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ChengyuanZhouFirstEssay 3 - 25 Dec 2024 - Main.ChengyuanZhou
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< | Concerns About The Commoditization of Personal Privacy | >
> | Artificial Intelligence Is Grabbing Your Data Secretly | | | -- By ChengyuanZhou? - 24 Oct 2024 | |
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< | The Life Without Privacy
Every a few days I can receive phone calls like: "Do you need a small loan?", "we offer medical insurance for students, are you interested?" and "you can enjoy great discounts if buying a house from us." These calls come far away from China and seem to know a lot about me. They know my name, profession, home address, and even the social ID number. It’s scary, isn’t it? However, Sales calls are just a basic form of privacy violation. As big data technology impacts all walks of life, from trivial matters such as clothing, food, housing and transportation to social reforms and movements, scattered, massive and fragmented personal information is quickly and effectively integrated and analyzed by commercial companies. | >
> | Introduction
Your own data is now legally being used by Internet giants for AI training. In the new wave of AI competition, due to the large amount of data required to train models, when the ordinary database of the Internet is exhausted, the large amount of user personal content on the platform becomes very attractive to the companies. Some tech giants are starting to sneak AI training into their data use policies, giving themselves the right to use people's data. Major companies such as Google, Meta, Adobe, Zoom, and X have updated their terms of service or privacy policies to allow them to use user data to train generative AI models. | | | | |
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< | Baidu is China's largest search engine company. Its president Robin Li once said: "Chinese people are more open to privacy issues and are willing to exchange privacy for efficiency and safety." The truth is that they have no option. Every first time you open an app, a window called “User Agreement and Privacy Policy” will be popped up. You cannot use it without clicking to agree. All the apps which are necessary for daily life are designed like this, and no alternative channels can be found. We passively enjoy the convenience of sharing privacy with companies and governments, and undertake the risk of being exploited by capitalists. | >
> | Modify User Agreement
Last July, Google made changes to its privacy policy to add that public information can be used to train its AI chatbots and other services. A Google spokesperson also said that with the permission of a small group of users, Google is allowed to use their personal emails to train its AI in some ways. According to Meta's updated privacy policy, the company now explicitly states that user information like posts, photos, and even interactions with their AI tools on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger can be used to train their AI models. A Meta spokesperson said in a statement that using publicly available information to train AI models is common practice across the industry and is not unique to our service. Adobe, Zoom and Snap also have added such clauses in their user agreement these years. To avoid user aversion over privacy concerns, companies sometimes make these changes quietly. In many cases, users will click agree without reading a word, accepting the agreement without warning. | | | | |
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< | Abuse of Personal Information in the bid data era
Nowadays, the collection of personal information is no longer limited to basic information such as phone numbers, home addresses, and browsing history. Facial recognition is increasingly used in mobile payments and personal identification. Electronic cars are recording your driving habits and road information all the time. Personal information of litigants are even used in courts to predict litigation outcomes with the help of artificial intelligence. | >
> | AI Training Is Using Your Sensitive Personal Information
The training data of AI mainly comes from all publicly available data on the Internet, including news reports, social media text, and articles published by platform users. In this process, a large amount of user information is collected by technology companies without the consent of the information publisher. At the same time, AI will also collect data generated by users in the process of using the model, such as conversation content, search history and browsing information, to optimize its operation. The collection and processing of this information enables AI to continuously learn user preferences and interests. In this process, users may unconsciously disclose their private information, such as real name, email address, residence, etc. The disclosure and abuse of these private information may bring significant losses to users, because their behaviors and decisions are more predictable by tech companies or the government. | | | | |
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< | The abuse of commercial use of personal privacy can be mainly divided into two categories: Sales of personal information and the Depiction of user pictures. The illegal sale of personal information is a very serious problem in China. Although the sale of personal information is illegal, there has already been a fairly mature underground trading market in China. All kinds of information are clearly marked with price, including mobile phone numbers, ID numbers, bank statements and hotel records. Such things is happening all over the world. In April 2021, it was revealed that the personal information of hundreds of millions of Facebook users from over 106 countries was leaked online. There was also a significant data leak which affected approximately 500 to 700 million LinkedIn? user accounts as reported in 2021. It is obvious that big tech companies are incapable of protecting their users’ personal information effectively. | >
> | Defense Made by Supporters of AI Training
A common defense is that personal information captured by AI will only be used for training purposes and not for other commercial purposes. Under lots of data privacy laws, a business that does not directly collect personal information from consumers and does not control the collection process is typically not required to provide collection notices, especially if they do not sell or share any personal information they may receive from other sources. Companies may argue that they only scrape data from the web to train the AI, such as Information posted by users on social media, which does not belong to personal information. However, even publicly available personal data is still protected by data privacy laws. When users provide information to the public on social media or the Web, they do not want others to take and make use of that information and process it without their explicit consent. Companies' practice of data scraping for the purpose of training AI could undermine consumer trust, which could have adverse impact on digital economy if fewer and fewer people are willing to sharing their experience or opinions on the internet. However, it is hard for these concerns to influence tech companies' decisions. The huge economic benefits and the market size of AI make no technology giant willing to give up training on AI tools, even if this will bring them huge moral and legal risks. Technological competition and market isolation among countries such as China have also created a huge demand for training AI without considering the invasion of personal privacy. | | | | |
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< | A common usage of user pictures is calls “big data killing” in China, which means that different customers see different prices for the same products or services. A well known example is the purchase of airline tickets. The more more times you open the app to check a particular flight, the higher the price you will get. Customers who use the software for the first time often get the best price, while the frequenters are punished for their loyalty at the same time. User pictures are a perennial topic, as we all know. With the development of big data technology, after scattered data is input, effective connections are formed, turning data fragments into data networks, which can reveal a person’s lifestyle and consumption habits. What’s more, many apps collect users’ information without their knowledge. They can secretly get access to camera and microphone in mobile phones, and browse your search record as well as the chat record.
The Regulation of the Commercial Use of Privacy Information
The way to get authorization from users to make use of privacy information should be altered. "Registration is deemed to agree to the Privacy Policy and the Cookie Agreement", such statement should not be displayed when users open a new app for the first time. They cannot be denied access simply because they disagree with the user agreement. Basic functions must be provided to users under any situation. Users must be informed that what type of information would be gathered and what third parties would get such data. Tech companies have to disclose their specific algorithms of how to deliver advertisements to consumers. Although some regulations such as GDPR published by EU say that algorithms need to be transparent and interpretable, it is still not enough to let average customers know under which situation they can see advertisement according to their preferences. Additionally, do companies really need so much personal information to run their business? Companies collect your information for the purpose of making best profits, not serving consumers, especially under the situation of providing differential treatment. What’s more, convenience is overemphasized in our world. In China, Face recognition has become an important means of payment and social governance. Schools and residential buildings use face recognition to manage people's access by cooperating with commercial companies, which raise doubt about the necessity of doing so. From the ex post perspective, users must have the right to require companies to delete their personal information completely, including that has been shared with the third party. Also, in light of the concealment of infringement and the complexity of tortfeasors, companies must bear the burden of proof to prove that users’ privacy is not abused. In general, there are numerous ways to limit the misuse of personal information. The question lies on whether those in power would take these measures really. They care much more about economy, convenience and social governance, not privacy.
Why should you ever see an advertisement on a computer at all? I don't, you needn't. What would happen if you didn't? What effect would there be on your mind and your spirit? What effect would the impossibility of advertising to you have on the data-collection habits of those with whom you interact?
You aren't in China: you're here. Why not adapt your technology in this society to provide all the freedom from surveillance and advertising that you can't experience there? Perhaps a draft actually addressing the technical realities rather than the sterile "surveillance v. convenience and privacy v. safety" dichotomies favored by the platforms and the autocrats would be helpful. If it motivated you to try living in a different style here in the US, imagine the potentially revolutionary consequences....
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> | User Consent: A Way to Deter Data Scraping for Training AI
This August the X platform has been accused of grabbing data from EU users without their consent to train AI models. This practice violates The General Data Protection Regulation regulating that any use of personal data needs to be made on a legal basis. Meta argues that it is using content that people have chosen to make public to build its foundational. However, any company that interacts directly with user data should clearly inform users and give them the option before use, which is an integral part of protecting user privacy. Requiring explicit consent from the user is a desirable solution, but it is clearly not enough. Even with user consent, AI training should be prohibited from grabbing sensitive private information, such as emails and call records. In addition, AI training must not retroactively use personal information prior to the user's consent. Once a company has obtained user consent, it should clearly indicate what information will be used for AI training to provide better guidance and clarification to users. It is understandable that these rules hardly really stop companies from collecting personal information. In the emerging market of AI, the boundary between technology needs and privacy protection is far from settled, and this battle will not stop for a long time. | | |
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. |
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ChengyuanZhouFirstEssay 2 - 11 Nov 2024 - Main.EbenMoglen
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< | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | | | Concerns About The Commoditization of Personal Privacy | | | The Regulation of the Commercial Use of Privacy Information
The way to get authorization from users to make use of privacy information should be altered. "Registration is deemed to agree to the Privacy Policy and the Cookie Agreement", such statement should not be displayed when users open a new app for the first time. They cannot be denied access simply because they disagree with the user agreement. Basic functions must be provided to users under any situation. Users must be informed that what type of information would be gathered and what third parties would get such data. Tech companies have to disclose their specific algorithms of how to deliver advertisements to consumers. Although some regulations such as GDPR published by EU say that algorithms need to be transparent and interpretable, it is still not enough to let average customers know under which situation they can see advertisement according to their preferences. Additionally, do companies really need so much personal information to run their business? Companies collect your information for the purpose of making best profits, not serving consumers, especially under the situation of providing differential treatment. What’s more, convenience is overemphasized in our world. In China, Face recognition has become an important means of payment and social governance. Schools and residential buildings use face recognition to manage people's access by cooperating with commercial companies, which raise doubt about the necessity of doing so. From the ex post perspective, users must have the right to require companies to delete their personal information completely, including that has been shared with the third party. Also, in light of the concealment of infringement and the complexity of tortfeasors, companies must bear the burden of proof to prove that users’ privacy is not abused. In general, there are numerous ways to limit the misuse of personal information. The question lies on whether those in power would take these measures really. They care much more about economy, convenience and social governance, not privacy. | |
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Why should you ever see an advertisement on a computer at all? I don't, you needn't. What would happen if you didn't? What effect would there be on your mind and your spirit? What effect would the impossibility of advertising to you have on the data-collection habits of those with whom you interact?
You aren't in China: you're here. Why not adapt your technology in this society to provide all the freedom from surveillance and advertising that you can't experience there? Perhaps a draft actually addressing the technical realities rather than the sterile "surveillance v. convenience and privacy v. safety" dichotomies favored by the platforms and the autocrats would be helpful. If it motivated you to try living in a different style here in the US, imagine the potentially revolutionary consequences....
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You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines: |
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ChengyuanZhouFirstEssay 1 - 25 Oct 2024 - Main.ChengyuanZhou
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.
Concerns About The Commoditization of Personal Privacy
-- By ChengyuanZhou? - 24 Oct 2024
The Life Without Privacy
Every a few days I can receive phone calls like: "Do you need a small loan?", "we offer medical insurance for students, are you interested?" and "you can enjoy great discounts if buying a house from us." These calls come far away from China and seem to know a lot about me. They know my name, profession, home address, and even the social ID number. It’s scary, isn’t it? However, Sales calls are just a basic form of privacy violation. As big data technology impacts all walks of life, from trivial matters such as clothing, food, housing and transportation to social reforms and movements, scattered, massive and fragmented personal information is quickly and effectively integrated and analyzed by commercial companies.
Baidu is China's largest search engine company. Its president Robin Li once said: "Chinese people are more open to privacy issues and are willing to exchange privacy for efficiency and safety." The truth is that they have no option. Every first time you open an app, a window called “User Agreement and Privacy Policy” will be popped up. You cannot use it without clicking to agree. All the apps which are necessary for daily life are designed like this, and no alternative channels can be found. We passively enjoy the convenience of sharing privacy with companies and governments, and undertake the risk of being exploited by capitalists.
Abuse of Personal Information in the bid data era
Nowadays, the collection of personal information is no longer limited to basic information such as phone numbers, home addresses, and browsing history. Facial recognition is increasingly used in mobile payments and personal identification. Electronic cars are recording your driving habits and road information all the time. Personal information of litigants are even used in courts to predict litigation outcomes with the help of artificial intelligence.
The abuse of commercial use of personal privacy can be mainly divided into two categories: Sales of personal information and the Depiction of user pictures. The illegal sale of personal information is a very serious problem in China. Although the sale of personal information is illegal, there has already been a fairly mature underground trading market in China. All kinds of information are clearly marked with price, including mobile phone numbers, ID numbers, bank statements and hotel records. Such things is happening all over the world. In April 2021, it was revealed that the personal information of hundreds of millions of Facebook users from over 106 countries was leaked online. There was also a significant data leak which affected approximately 500 to 700 million LinkedIn? user accounts as reported in 2021. It is obvious that big tech companies are incapable of protecting their users’ personal information effectively.
A common usage of user pictures is calls “big data killing” in China, which means that different customers see different prices for the same products or services. A well known example is the purchase of airline tickets. The more more times you open the app to check a particular flight, the higher the price you will get. Customers who use the software for the first time often get the best price, while the frequenters are punished for their loyalty at the same time. User pictures are a perennial topic, as we all know. With the development of big data technology, after scattered data is input, effective connections are formed, turning data fragments into data networks, which can reveal a person’s lifestyle and consumption habits. What’s more, many apps collect users’ information without their knowledge. They can secretly get access to camera and microphone in mobile phones, and browse your search record as well as the chat record.
The Regulation of the Commercial Use of Privacy Information
The way to get authorization from users to make use of privacy information should be altered. "Registration is deemed to agree to the Privacy Policy and the Cookie Agreement", such statement should not be displayed when users open a new app for the first time. They cannot be denied access simply because they disagree with the user agreement. Basic functions must be provided to users under any situation. Users must be informed that what type of information would be gathered and what third parties would get such data. Tech companies have to disclose their specific algorithms of how to deliver advertisements to consumers. Although some regulations such as GDPR published by EU say that algorithms need to be transparent and interpretable, it is still not enough to let average customers know under which situation they can see advertisement according to their preferences. Additionally, do companies really need so much personal information to run their business? Companies collect your information for the purpose of making best profits, not serving consumers, especially under the situation of providing differential treatment. What’s more, convenience is overemphasized in our world. In China, Face recognition has become an important means of payment and social governance. Schools and residential buildings use face recognition to manage people's access by cooperating with commercial companies, which raise doubt about the necessity of doing so. From the ex post perspective, users must have the right to require companies to delete their personal information completely, including that has been shared with the third party. Also, in light of the concealment of infringement and the complexity of tortfeasors, companies must bear the burden of proof to prove that users’ privacy is not abused. In general, there are numerous ways to limit the misuse of personal information. The question lies on whether those in power would take these measures really. They care much more about economy, convenience and social governance, not privacy.
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:
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