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Category Archives: Civil Liberties

Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool

Council on Environmental Quality: “Explore the map – Census tracts that are overburdened and underserved are highlighted as being disadvantaged on the map. Federally Recognized Tribes, including Alaska Native Villages, are also considered disadvantaged communities. Zooming in and selecting shows information about each census tract.”  Search for an address, city, state or zipcode.

UK Guide on the use of Generative AI

UK Gov: Guide on the use of Generative AI – “Overview – Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools offer many potential benefits to Government of Canada (GC) institutions. Federal institutions should explore potential uses of generative AI tools for supporting and improving their operations. However, because these tools are evolving, they should not be used in… Continue Reading

A Big New Report on American Children Is Out. It’s Horrific.

Human Rights Watch: “How Do US States Measure Up on Child Rights? Challenging US States to Meet International Child Rights Standards for Child Marriage, Corporal Punishment, Child Labor, and Juvenile Justice. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most ratified international human rights treaty to date. Since its adoption in… Continue Reading

A comprehensive and distributed approach to AI regulation

Brookings – Alex Engler August 31, 2023 – Proposing the Critical Algorithmic Systems Classification (CASC) A defining challenge of AI regulation is creating a framework that is comprehensive, but still results in rules that are tailored to the nuances of AI in different applications, such as in educational access, hiring, mortgage pricing, rent setting, or healthcare… Continue Reading

Law Schools: Want to Help Bend the Arc of the Moral Universe Toward Justice? Hire Law Professors with Public Service Experience

Kincaid, Rachel, Law Schools: Want to Help Bend the Arc of the Moral Universe Toward Justice? Hire Law Professors with Public Service Experience (September 5, 2023). University of Richmond Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4562584 “We are living in momentous times. Social justice and the legitimacy of our political systems are at the forefront… Continue Reading

Will AI Degrade Online Communities?

Tech Policy Press: “Kalie M. Mayberry, a social impact researcher and educator exploring activism practices and community governance models at Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, says the threat of generative AI is not only in the many problems inherent in the technology – including bias, hallucinations, potential for spreading disinformation,… Continue Reading

Conservative book ban push fuels library exodus ALA

AP: “After parents in a rural and staunchly conservative Wyoming county joined nationwide pressure on librarians to pull books they considered harmful to youngsters, the local library board obliged with new policies making such books a higher priority for removal — and keeping out of collections. But that’s not all the library board has done.… Continue Reading

CBP Tells Airports Its New Facial Recognition Target is 75% of Passengers Leaving the US

404 Media: “Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has told airports it plans to increase its targets for scanning passengers with facial recognition as they leave the U.S., according to an internal airport email obtained by 404 Media. The new goal will be to scan 75 percent of all passengers, the email adds. The news signals… Continue Reading

IBM promised to back off facial recognition then signed a $69.8M contract to provide it

The Verge: “The company denies its new government deal enables ‘general purpose’ biometric surveillance. Human rights advocates disagree. IBM has returned to the facial recognition market — just three years after announcing it was abandoning work on the technology due to concerns about racial profiling, mass surveillance, and other human rights violations. In June 2020,… Continue Reading

Unforgotten on the Day of the Disappeared: Missing human rights advocates

Via LLRX – Unforgotten on the Day of the Disappeared: Missing human rights advocates – On August 30th each year the world is reminded that hundreds of thousands of people in at least 85 countries don’t know where their loved ones are, or even whether they are alive or dead. For the victims of enforced… Continue Reading

Federal judge temporarily blocks new Texas book-rating law for schools

San Antonio Press News: “A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a new Texas law that would establish a book-rating system and ban or restrict books with sexual content from Texas public schools.  Austin-based Judge Alan D. Albright told lawyers that the state could not enforce the law Friday, when it was planned to take… Continue Reading