AI
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AI Regulation: The EU should not give in to the surveillance industry
Although it claims to protect our liberties, the recent European Commission’s legislative proposal on artificial intelligence (AI) promotes the accelerated development of all aspects of AI, in particular for security purposes.
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Artificial intelligence – a tool of austerity
This week Human Rights Watch published a much-needed comment on the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation. As governments increasingly resort to AI systems to administer social security and public services more broadly, there is an ever-greater need to analyse the impact on fundamental rights and the broader public interest.
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Facebook deleting facial recognition: Five reasons to take it with a pinch of salt
Voluntary self-regulation from tech giants is superficial and no replacement for actual legislation
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MEPs poised to vote blank cheque for Europol using AI tools
This week, MEPs recognised the dangers of certain uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in criminal justice. A strong majority rallied around the landmark AI in criminal matters report by the European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) committee, which opposes AI that 'predicts' criminal behaviour and calls for a ban on biometric surveillance.
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The EU Parliament Took a Stance Against AI Mass Surveillance: What are the Global Implications?
The European Parliament's resolution on artificial intelligence in criminal law and its use by the police presents an opportunity for the EU to reconsider its role in the development of such tools, their sale, or use as part of its counter-terrorism and anti-immigration policies abroad.
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Big Tech platforms are hurting us. 50 organisations urge the EU to #FixAlgorithms
The list of negative consequences of how dominant online platforms shape our experience online is neither short nor trivial. From exploiting users’ vulnerabilities, triggering psychological trauma, depriving people of job opportunities to pushing disturbing content to others, these are just some examples. While members of the European Parliament debate their position on the Digital Services Act (DSA), EDRi’s member Panoptykon Foundation (Poland), together with 49 civil society organisations from all over Europe, including EDRi, Amnesty International, Article 19, European Partnership for Democracy and Electronic Frontier Foundation, urge them to ensure protection from the harms caused by platforms’ algorithms.
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Human rights focus missing in the State of the Union 2021 address
On 15 September, the yearly State of the Union 2021 address took place. The address is the event where the European Commission evaluates the preceding year and the Commission President announces key legislation or reactions to crucial international events.
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Booklet: If AI is the problem, is debiasing the solution?
The development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in all areas of public life have raised many concerns about the harmful consequences on society, in particular the impact on marginalised communities. EDRi's latest report "Beyond Debiasing: Regulating AI and its Inequalities", authored by Agathe Balayn and Dr. Seda Gürses,* argues that policymakers must tackle the root causes of the power imbalances caused by the pervasive use of AI systems. In promoting technical ‘debiasing’ as the main solution to AI driven structural inequality, we risk vastly underestimating the scale of the social, economic and political problems AI systems can inflict.
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EDRi submits response to the European Commission AI adoption consultation
Today, 3rd of August 2021, European Digital Rights (EDRi) submitted its response to the European Commission’s adoption consultation on the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA).
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No place for emotion recognition technologies in Italian museums
An Italian museum trials emotion recognition systems, despite the practice being heavily criticised by data protection authorities, scholars and civil society. The ShareArt system collects, among others, age, gender and emotions of people. EDRi member Hermes Center called the DPA for an investigation.
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They can hear you: 6 ways tech is listening to you
Voice recognition technology often violates human rights, and it’s popping up more and more. Recently EDRi's member Access Now called out Spotify for developing voice recognition tech that claims to be able to detect gender and emotional state, among other things. But it’s not just Spotify. Some of the most powerful companies in the world are deploying similar abusive tech because harvesting data about you is profitable. The market for voice recognition is growing, expected to be worth a whopping $26.8 billion by 2025.
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EU privacy regulators and Parliament demand AI and biometrics red lines
In their Joint Opinion on the AI Act, the EDPS and EDPB “call for [a] ban on [the] use of AI for automated recognition of human features in publicly accessible spaces, and some other uses of AI that can lead to unfair discrimination”. Taking the strongest stance yet, the Joint Opinion explains that “intrusive forms of AI – especially those who may affect human dignity – are to be seen as prohibited” on fundamental rights grounds.
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