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Facebook Trains Its AI on Your Data. Opting Out May Be Futile
As Meta, the company behind Facebook continues to develop its generative artificial intelligence tools, you can now request the removal of some of the personal data the company uses to train its AI model. There are a ton of caveats, though.
Earlier this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to build a range of AI features into Meta’s platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Despite the popularity of generative AI in Silicon Valley, murky legal questions remain for the technology, and many people are anxious about its rapid advancement.
Want to stop Meta from using all of your info to improve its AI? The company added a new form to one of its help centers titled “Generative AI Data Subject Rights at Facebook.” With this form, you can request that Meta give you access to the third-party data it uses for AI development and that the personal information is deleted.
The operative word here is “request.” There’s no guarantee from the company that it’ll delete it, or that it’ll provide you with the information you’re asking for, even if it’s yours.
It’s important to point out that this form does not pertain to the gobs of personal information Meta has already collected from you on its platforms; it only applies to outside data the company may bring in to beef up its generative AI.
Harvard University Is the Worst College for Free Speech: ‘Abysmal’ Rating, Report Says
Just as the school year kicks off and students return to campus, Harvard University has been ranked as the worst college for free speech in the country.
Harvard ranked last out of 248 colleges in a survey of more than 55,000 students across the U.S., receiving the only “Abysmal” rating in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and College Pulse free speech rankings.
“Some of the most prestigious universities in our country have the most repressive administrations,” Stevens added. “Students should know that a college degree at certain schools may come at the expense of their free speech rights.”
The campus free speech rankings rely heavily on student responses and on how schools responded to de-platforming attempts. Self-censorship is pervasive across the board, according to the survey. More than a quarter of students (26%) said they censor themselves at least a few times a week in conversations with friends, and 25% said they’re more likely to self-censor now than they were when starting college.
Gov. DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Warn Against New COVID Restrictions and Vaccine
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday criticized recent efforts across the U.S. to tamp down a recent jump in COVID-19 cases through temporary restrictions or masking and his state surgeon general warned against getting the latest COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to be available this month.
At the Jacksonville news conference at an Irish pub, DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo promised Florida won’t be joining states, cities or school districts across the U.S. in temporarily closing schools or mandating mask-wearing because of the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases.
Lapado said there were no arguments for getting the latest vaccine. “There are a lot of red flags,” Ladapo said.
Ladapo last year released guidance recommending against COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy children, contradicting federal public health leaders whose advice says all kids should get the shots.
New York State Providing COVID Tests, Masks to Schools
New York state will provide COVID-19 tests and masks in school districts amid a recent spike in cases over the summer, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced Tuesday.
The announcement also comes after the recent discovery of the BA.2.86 subvariant in New York City’s sewage, according to city officials.
Hochul’s office Wednesday said the state will conduct outreach to the Education Department and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) to determine each district’s needs for the test kits and masks, including both N95 and KN95 masks.
A risk assessment from the CDC published last month found the subvariant may be more capable of causing infections in people who previously contracted the virus or who have been vaccinated.
A Japanese City Is Installing Robots in Classrooms so Kids Who Are Worried About Attending School Can Tune in Remotely
Kumamoto, a city in Southwest Japan, plans to install robots in some of its classrooms to help home-based pupils feel more included and less anxious.
The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported that the initiative was due to involve two meter-high robots, which would be fitted with microphones and a camera to allow for two-way communication. This would allow students to learn from home while still contributing to class discussions.
Japan has been experiencing a rise in the number of truant schoolchildren, a trend potentially accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the country’s truancy rates soared to record levels, The Asahi Shimbun outlet reported, citing an education ministry survey.
Snapchat Adds New Safety Features for Teen Users
Snapchat says it’s working to make its app even safer for teen users. Parent company Snap said Thursday that it is rolling out a suite of new features and policies aimed at better protecting 13- to 17-year-old users, including restrictions on friend suggestions and a new system for removing age-inappropriate content.
The company also launched a series of YouTube videos for parents about the features and an updated website laying out its teen safety and parental control policies.
The new features come amid increasing pressure on social media platforms by lawmakers, educators and parents to protect young users from inappropriate content, unwanted adult attention, illicit drug sales and other issues.
A Snap executive testified alongside leaders from TikTok and YouTube in a fall 2021 Senate committee hearing about youth safety on social media, promising new tools to help parents keep their teens safe. Since then, Snapchat — like other platforms — has rolled out a variety of new teen safety and parental supervision tools.
U.K. Data Watchdog to Review Period and Fertility Apps Amid Security Concerns
The U.K. data watchdog is to review period and fertility tracking apps after users expressed concerns over data security.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced the move after it commissioned research showing that half of women have concerns about how their data is used by the apps.
The poll of more than 1,150 women showed that a third of women have used apps to track their periods or fertility. Women said transparency over how their data was used and how secure it was were bigger concerns — at 59% and 57% of respondents respectively — than cost and ease of use when it came to choosing an app.
In recent years, privacy campaigners have previously warned about menstruation apps unnecessarily storing the personal data of users, including intimate details such as birth control habits.
G7 Countries Commit to AI Code of Conduct
Officials from the G7 group of leading democratic countries agreed Thursday to create an international code of conduct for artificial intelligence as politicians from Brussels to Washington seek greater control over this emerging technology.
As part of the voluntary guidelines, policymakers said countries would work together on specific principles that would oversee the likes of generative AI and other advanced forms of the technology. This attempt at creating a unified, but nonbinding, international rulebook would then be presented to G7 leaders as early as November.
The code of conduct is expected to include commitments from companies to take steps to stop potential societal harm created by their AI systems, to invest in tough cybersecurity controls over how the technology is developed and to create risk management systems to curb the potential misuse of the technology.
It comes as the European Union seeks to complete its own AI legislation by the end of the year, and the United States pushes ahead with its own voluntary commitments announced in July.
