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Switzerland Takes Another Step Towards Digital ID
Switzerland’s national digital identity is inching closer to reality.
On Tuesday, the country’s Council of States approved the project’s regulative framework with an overwhelming majority, opening the path for the next legislative steps.
The E-ID Act will go back to the Swiss parliament’s lower house, the National Council which still needs to resolve any disagreements on individual data protection and cyber security issues, according to Swiss Info.
Data protection has been one of the major stumbling blocks in making Switzerland’s digital ID a reality. A previous proposal, which would have allowed private companies to manage Swiss citizen data, was shot down in a 2021 referendum.
The new scheme promises a government-controlled system closer to self-sovereign identity (SSI), giving users more control over data.
In July, a Swiss government commission recommended that e-ID data be kept exclusively in a government digital wallet.
Private wallet makers will be able to store and present the electronic ID in the future so long as they comply with council regulations.
Digital ID, Facial Analysis and AI Profiling to Be Considered in Teen Social Media Ban Trial
Digital ID requirements, artificial intelligence profiling and vocal analysis are all on the table as part of the federal government’s search for ways to ban teens from using social media.
Late on Tuesday, the federal government announced that it would seek to pass legislation that would give it the power to ban teenagers from social media and other digital platforms.
As part of this proposal, the government has started the process of trialing technologies that make it possible to verify or estimate a user’s age online.
Age assurance technologies will be tested on whether they’re able to “determine a user being between 13-16 years of age.”
Suggested methods included biometric age verification like facial scans and voice analysis, getting verified parental consent, offering parental controls, and using AI or other algorithmic techniques to guess a user’s age based on their online habits.
These technologies may be used together or in isolation, depending on the service a user is seeking to access and the level of risk associated with it, the tender says.
For example, facial scanning could be used to estimate someone’s age to use Facebook but not to buy a weapon online.
Gen Z Is Most Skeptical of AI: New Study
Despite growing up in the digital age, or perhaps because of it, Gen Z is increasingly skeptical of artificial intelligence (AI) compared to other generations, a new study revealed.
More 18- to 24-year-olds said they don’t want AI on their phones compared to older generations, according to a new GWS research report.
While the Gen Z group said they didn’t want AI 16% of the time, only 9% of the older group surveyed said the same thing.
They also had different views on the technology in general.
While nearly half, or 46%, of older millennials said they were in favor of AI if it boosts their productivity, only 25% of Gen Z said the same, revealing a significant gap despite being the generation most likely to grow up around AI.
“Gen Z’s skepticism toward AI reflects a generation that’s hyper-aware of how technology has been used to exploit them,” HR consultant and generational expert Bryan Driscoll told Newsweek.
Utah Social Media Law Requiring Age Verification Blocked by Judge
A federal judge halted a Utah child safety law requiring social platforms to verify the ages of their users.
In an order on Tuesday, Judge Robert J. Shelby issued a preliminary injunction in favor of NetChoice, saying the law likely violates the First Amendment.
NetChoice, the technology trade association that includes Meta, Snap, Google and X, sued the state to block the law in December 2023, alleging it “violates the constitutional rights of all Utahns.”
In addition to verifying the ages of users, the law would require social platforms to “enable maximum default privacy settings” on children’s accounts as well as disable features “that lead to excessive use,” such as endless scrolling and push notifications.
Although Utah initially introduced the social media legislation in 2023, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed off on an amended version in March of this year after facing criticism over whether it violates free speech.
The law was supposed to go into effect on Oct. 1. However, the changes made to the law weren’t enough to convince the judge of its constitutionality.
Genetic Testing Company Must Issue Refunds After Security Breach Disaster
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is forcing the California-based genetic testing company 1Health.io to pay out almost $50,000 in refunds to 2,432 customers.
The company left customer data in an unsecured public cloud and wasn’t diligent about its third-party contractors destroying genetic material after they were done with it.
1Health.io is a company formally known as Vitagene. It changed its name in 2020.
Vitagene sold DNA test kits and health reports.
The pitch was that a customer could get a better idea of what their DNA said about possible health conditions.
In 2023 the FTC released a complaint against the company alleging a slew of privacy violations. It was a slam dunk case. Vitagene’s website claimed it offered “rock-solid security” and promised to handle a customer’s data and DNA in a responsible manner.
It promised to only share customer’s health data in limited circumstances, never store their genetic samples alongside identifying information, and to destroy DNA samples after they were analyzed.
Vitagene didn’t do any of that, according to the FTC. A third-party company dealt with analyzing the DNA samples and 1Health.io had no provisions in place to make sure that company destroyed the samples.
Google and the Doj’s Ad Tech Fight Is All About Control
Google and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) each believe the other wants too much of one thing: control.
“Control is the defining characteristic of a monopolist,” DOJ counsel Julia Tarver Wood said during opening statements in the federal government’s second antitrust trial against the search giant, which kicked off on Monday in Alexandria, Virginia.
To the government, Google exerts too much control over every step of the way publishers sell advertising space online and how advertisers buy it, resulting in a system that benefits Google at the expense of nearly everyone else.
To Google, the government is seeking control over a successful business by making it deal with rivals on more favorable terms, disregarding the value of its investments in technology and the unique efficiencies of its integrated tools.
By the end of the trial, which is expected to last several weeks, U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema will be left to decide which side is exerting too much control — and ultimately, if Google has illegally monopolized the markets for advertising technology.
Apple, Google Owe Whopping Tax Bills Due to EU’s Crackdown on Big Tech
Apple and Google were both handed separate defeats Tuesday in their defenses against the European Union’s efforts to rein in the dominance of major tech firms.
The EU’s top court, the European Court of Justice, sided with the bloc’s executive arm, the European Commission (EC), in a case that requires Apple to pay some $14 billion in back taxes to Ireland.
The high court also upheld a $2.7 billion fine against Google for alleged antitrust violations.
In 2016, the EC ordered Apple to pay 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in back taxes to Ireland, claiming that the iPhone maker benefited from two Irish tax rulings for over two decades that artificially reduced its tax burden.
Both Apple and Ireland appealed the ruling, which was annulled in 2020, but the EC appealed that decision and won the final ruling on Tuesday.
Nigerians Race Against SIM-NIN Digital ID Link Deadline
Nigerians have until Saturday Sept. 14 to link their SIM cards with their national identification number (NIN) or have their network connection suspended in what is said to be a final ultimatum.
As the deadline issued last month by the Nigerian Communications Commission draws near, the National Identity Management Commission has reassured citizens of its readiness to accompany them in obtaining NINs to complete the process.
A statement signed by the institution’s head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, reminds Nigerians that services related to NIN enrollment, verification and authentication, modification of data and other services are going on unperturbed so as to enable citizens meet the NIN-SIM linkage deadline.
