Apple Inc. changed its App Store rules last week to limit how developers use information about iPhone owners’ friends and other contacts, quietly closing a loophole that let app makers store and share data without many people’s consent.
The move cracks down on a practice that’s been employed for years. Developers ask users for access to their phone contacts, then use it for marketing and sometimes share or sell the information — without permission from the other people listed on those digital address books. On both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, the world’s largest smartphone operating systems, the tactic is sometimes used to juice growth and make money.
Student lists are commercially available for purchase on the basis of ethnicity, affluence, religion, lifestyle, awkwardness, and even a perceived or predicted need for family planning services. This study seeks to provide an understanding of the commercial marketplace for student data and the interaction with privacy law. Over several years, Fordham CLIP reviewed publicly-available sources, made public records requests to educational institutions, and collected marketing materials received by high school students. The study uncovered and documents an overall lack of transparency in the student information commercial marketplace and an absence of law to protect student information.
The study first describes the legal framework for data brokers selling student information and shows that existing privacy laws do not encompass these activities. Next, the study shows what this commercial ecosystem looks like. Specifically, the study maps the types of commercial solicitations students receive, the identities of data brokers confirmed to advertise the sale of student information, sources of student data in the commercial marketplace, the types of student data offered for sale, and the ways in which data brokers package it.
Sixty-nine percent of Americans say gambling is morally acceptable, a four-percentage-point increase from last year and the highest level of acceptance in the 16 years Gallup has asked the question.
The Supreme Court struck down a federal law banning sports betting on May 14, only a few days after the May 1-10 poll was completed. The law was challenged by the state of New Jersey, which has been battling for years to legalize sports betting at its casinos and racetracks. More than 20 states are now considering legalizing some form of sports betting.
Microsoft is following Google’s lead in designing a computer processor for artificial intelligence, according to recent job postings.
In late March, Microsoft published at least three job openings within its Azure public cloud division, looking for candidates to work on features for an AI chip. The following month the team listed an opening for a silicon program manager, and “an engineer for software/hardware codesign and optimization for AI acceleration.”
Under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft is showing it’s willing to spend the money it takes to have a full-featured cloud as it competes with Amazon Web Services and Google. Specialized processors are one way Microsoft can prove it’s serious about bulking up its AI services for businesses within its cloud.
When a professor posted a Twitter thread about how Cornell University improved diversity in its computer-science PhD program, it quickly went viral.
“[W]e made a big step in improving diversity of the program. Let me tell you about it,” wrote David Bindel, the PhD admissions chair for Cornell University’s Computer Science department, earlier this month.
It’s clearly an issue that other higher ed leaders are interested in hearing about—the tweet has been shared more than 750 times and drew nearly 2,000 likes.
Computer science is “not just white dudes slinging code, and we all suffer for it when the world thinks that’s what it is,” Bindel wrote.
New York City’s NYU Langone Health is opening what it contends are the most technologically advanced hospital buildings in the nation, designed from the ground up to integrate the latest in healthcare information technology to improve the patient experience and outcomes.
The 21-story Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Pavilion houses the new Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital—the first pediatric hospital built in New York City in nearly 15 years—which is the culmination of more than a decade of planning and construction.
The Kimmel Pavilion opens its doors on June 24, marking the largest and most extensive revitalization in NYU Langone Health’s history, adding 830,000 square feet to its hospital space—including 11 patient floors. For its part, Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital—which is accessible through its own entrance—takes up 160,000 square feet and is the only pediatric inpatient facility in Manhattan with all single-patient rooms.
Antonio Torralba has been named the inaugural director of the MIT Quest for Intelligence, effective immediately, Provost Martin Schmidt announced today in an email to the MIT community.
Launched on February 1 of this year, The Quest is a campus-wide initiative to discover the foundations of intelligence and to drive the development of technological tools that can positively influence virtually every aspect of society.
“The range of questions we aspire to explore through The Quest is simply breathtaking,” says MIT President L. Rafael Reif. “There are moments in the history of science when the tools, the data, and the big questions are perfectly synchronized to achieve major advances. I believe we are in just such a moment, and that we are poised to advance the understanding of intelligence in every sense in a profound way. Antonio is exactly the leader we need to move this effort forward.”
In April, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella contended that the software giant is pulling away from competitors in artificial intelligence, with “advanced” AI for detecting security threats and a greater number of AI services “than any other cloud provider.”
But during the EmTech Next conference at MIT on Tuesday, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith suggested that Microsoft won’t be surprised if lawmakers and government regulators take action over AI down the road.
“I don’t believe that on something as fundamentally impactful as artificial intelligence that one should leave this to either the software developers alone or to the private sector alone,” Smith said during the MIT Technology Review conference in Cambridge, Mass. “I think we need a path that will enable governments, especially in the democratically elected countries of the world, to ensure that we’re all on an appropriate path.”
Oxford, England June 28. “The Digital | Visual | Cultural series opens with a keynote talk on 28 June from the New School’sShannon Mattern, followed by an invite-only workshop the next day. This event will serve as a introduction to the series’ guiding themes, theories, and anticipated directions.”
Thessaloniki, Greece September 27. “The aim of CSS@CCS’18 as a one-day event is to cover the wide range of activities at the interface of Social Science and Complexity.” Deadline for abstract submissions is June 26.
Toronto, ON, Canada November 2-4. “OpenCon is the conference and community for students and early career professionals interested in advancing Open Access, Open Education and Open Data.” Deadline for attendee applications is July 13.
New York, NY September 20 at The New School. “NYC Media Lab will select 100 of the most innovative demos from across the City’s university ecosystem to participate in the NYCML’18 Demo Expo— the NYC Media Lab 100. Faculty and students can apply in a concept, working prototype, poster or experience to participate.” Deadline to apply is September 4.
“Traditional approaches to data anonymization rely on tools with limited scalability and manual analysis. At IBM Research – Ireland we have constructed a framework which offers several features for creating the strategy, design and enforcement of data privacy at scale. The framework assists in navigating the enormous number of combinations of data anonymization settings. Its reporting structure supports an assessment review of the privacy settings in terms of data utility and risk.”