Andrew Yang backs California’s data privacy campaign
"Our data should be ours no matter what platforms and apps we use," Yang said.
02 September, 2020
(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
- In November, Californians will vote to pass Proposition 24, which aims to expand data privacy laws in the state.
- Proposition 24 aims to strengthen the California Consumer Privacy Act, which went into effect this year.
- However, some privacy advocates say Proposition 24 doesn't go far enough, and in some cases actually erodes the CCPA.
<p>To get an idea of where the U.S. data privacy movement is heading, look to California.<br></p><p>In January, California established the nation's most comprehensive set of state data privacy laws when its Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) went into effect. The law enabled Californians to discover what types of personal information businesses were collecting, to request that companies delete personal data, and to opt-out of its sale. </p><p>But some privacy advocates say the CCPA doesn't offer enough protection. On Monday, former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang publicly supported Proposition 24, a measure on the November ballot that aims to strengthen the CCPA.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The California Consumer Privacy Act was a major win for the state of California and the country, but we have to do more," Yang said in a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/californians-for-consumer-privacy-announces-andrew-yang-as-chair-of-advisory-board-301121280.html#:~:text=%22The%20California%20Consumer%20Privacy%20Act,former%20presidential%20candidate%20Andrew%20Yang." target="_blank">statement</a>. "Technology is changing more rapidly than ever before, and tech corporations are already lining up to undermine the CCPA. It's up to us to protect consumers and strengthen our privacy rights to global standards. Our data should be ours no matter what platforms and apps we use."</p><p><a href="https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_24,_Consumer_Personal_Information_Law_and_Agency_Initiative_(2020)" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Proposition 24</a> would broaden the CCPA by allowing Californians to opt-out of data collection from businesses; making it harder for businesses to use "sensitive data" about things like race, sexual orientation, and finances for advertising; and creating a new agency that would enforce the state's privacy laws, among other amendments.</p>
Critiques of Prop. 24
<p>Still, some advocates say even these additions to the CCPA don't go far enough, including organizations like the ACLU of California, the Consumer Federation of California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).</p><p>Calling it a "mixed bag of partial steps backwards and forwards," the EFF <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/07/why-eff-doesnt-support-cal-prop-24" target="_blank">said</a> it wouldn't support Proposition 24 because (to name a few reasons) it:</p><ul><li>Would expand "<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/02/payoff-californias-data-dividend-must-be-stronger-privacy-laws" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pay for privacy</a>" schemes by allowing a company to withhold discounts unless consumers in loyalty clubs allow it to harvest certain data. This could lead to a society of privacy "haves" and "have-nots," wrote the EFF.</li><li>Fails to establish an "opt-in" model of data collection. Under the CCPA, consumers have to opt-out of collection, which places the burden on consumers to protect privacy. "Privacy should be the default," the EFF wrote.</li><li>Would expand the power of companies to refuse a consumer's request to delete their data.</li></ul><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzYwNDc4NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDY1MDEwOH0.7psBH7RJd2r3fHasl5ikHMXliptLPwAc0knteiJf95Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="b5c3f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bb57d6046e11c3f28a064e7bceeedbb5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Andrew Yang" />Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Campaigns In New Hampshire Ahead Of Primary
(Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
<p>As for Yang? It's unclear what the former presidential hopeful, whose campaign was based in part on data privacy, thinks of these critiques. But in a recent interview with <a href="https://www.ksro.com/2020/09/02/interview-andrew-yang-on-prop-24/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KSRO</a>, Yang said the U.S. lags far behind European nations in terms of data privacy laws, and that Proposition 24 would be a huge step towards our data dignity. He added that other states beyond California would likely follow suit if the proposal passes.</p>The Data Dividend Project
<p>Yang is also spearheading the <a href="https://www.datadividendproject.com/" target="_blank">Data Dividend Project</a>, a "movement dedicated to establishing and enforcing data property rights and to getting you compensated when companies monetize your data." The project, which operates under the laws established by the CCPA, aims to tax tech companies when they use consumer data, and to support new data privacy legislation across the country. (Some critics have <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/935358/andrew-yangs-data-dividend-isnt-radical-its-useless" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">questioned the efficacy of the project</a>.)</p><p>In an op-ed about his data dividend proposal published in the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-06-23/andrew-yang-data-dividend-tech-privacy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Los Angeles Times</a>, Yang wrote: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"If Congress and other states adopt legislation like the CCPA, millions more would be able to band together with even greater bargaining power to hold tech companies accountable and, ultimately, demand that they share some of the revenue generated from consumers' personal data."</p>
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Police can track cars nationwide with new license plate surveillance network
The system is basically facial recognition technology, but for cars.
21 August, 2020
Flock Safety
- Some police departments use automatic license plate readers to track suspects.
- A company called Flock Safety is now allowing police departments to opt in to a national network, which shares data on car movements.
- Privacy advocates are concerned about the potential for errors and abuse.
<p>Earlier this month, a man shot a police officer in Pell City, Alabama, and fled the scene. Police didn't know who the shooter was, but witnesses were able to describe his car and license plate. The suspect was arrested just hours later.</p><p>One factor that helped officers make the quick arrest was the Flock Safety system, which operates a network of cameras that track car movements by reading license plates. After plugging in the suspect's tag number, Pell City officers were not only able to see where the car went in their own city, but also in nearby Heflin.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We can actually look at Heflin's Flock camera," Pell City Police Chief Paul Irwin told the <a href="https://www.annistonstar.com/the_st_clair_times/pell-city-police-arrest-man-wanted-for-shooting-of-georgia-deputy-with-photos/article_44aa089e-dc42-11ea-9fcd-535f24570cd0.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">St. Clair Times</a>. "That's a huge advantage."</p><p>About 400 U.S. law enforcement agencies currently use Flock Safety cameras. Now, the company wants to give those agencies the option to connect to one network, the "Total Analytics Law Officers Network," or TALON. This opt-in network would potentially allow law enforcement agencies nationwide to track a car as it drives from coast to coast, assuming it passes through the 700 American cities that have installed Flock Safety cameras.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU3Mzk5MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDI4NTg0NH0.HakqJwoQ5263cW-zJpTo6UjA72YiahtS6GUzqDloxHY/img.png?width=980" id="1fb7e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0c7065b66245dd2bce681fbfbe11f875" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Map tracking the car movements of a murder suspect in Alabama.
Flock Safety
<p>Flock Safety says its cameras help police solve more crimes. The company <a href="https://www.flocksafety.com/flock-safety-resources" target="_blank" rel="dofollow">website</a> notes that "70% of crime involves a vehicle" and law enforcement agencies say "a license plate is the best piece of evidence to track leads and solve crimes."</p><p>But critics of Flock Safety have raised concerns over the potential for errors and abuse. In August, for example, <a href="https://gizmodo.com/cops-terrorize-black-family-but-blame-license-plate-rea-1844602731" target="_blank">police in Colorado held a family at gunpoint</a> after a license plate reader flagged a car as stolen. It turned out to be the wrong vehicle.</p><p>With TALON, police would also have unprecedented information about the movements of citizens. It's not hard to see how this data could be abused. Think, for example, of the Florida police officer who used the Driver and Vehicle Information Database (D.A.V.I.D.) to get women's contact information so he could <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/11/police-in-florida-allege-officer-used-database-to-gets-dates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">ask them out on dates</a>.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2bc2ae081b563f5f6c9ad6a356a0de78"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4rkoD92BOxg?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Flock Safety says it designed its system under an <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/08/19/2080858/0/en/FLOCK-SAFETY-LAUNCHES-ETHICALLY-DESIGNED-LOCAL-AND-NATIONAL-NETWORK-OF-AUTOMATED-LICENSE-PLATE-READERS.html" target="_blank">"ethical framework,"</a> noting that it deletes data on car movements every 30 days. The company also says its customers (which include private neighborhoods, in addition to police departments) own 100 percent of the data.</p><p>But the company can't guarantee that the public gets a say in whether to install the system. What's more, even if constituents had accepted Flock Safety being installed cameras in their own community, they might not want police to join TALON, which would put their local data on the national radar.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU3NDAxOS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDQwMzUwNn0.M0w_j16855OemrAJWNYK9zRHh0kr4-VIdSqqlTKy8AM/img.png?width=980" id="43fb7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="61a351d0a60c4a02c86adc51f48d815d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p class=""><br></p>Flock Safety
<p>It's currently unclear how many police departments plan to join TALON. But like the advent of facial recognition technologies, the spread of automatic license plate reader technology highlights how mass surveillance isn't always driven by the state.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We often think of dystopian surveillance as something that's imposed by an authoritarian government," Evan Greer, deputy director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, told <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/license-plate-tracking-for-police-set-to-go-nationwide/?utm_source=reddit.com" target="_blank">CNET</a>. "It's clearer every day that there is an enormous threat posed by privately owned and managed surveillance regimes, which will be weaponized by the rich and powerful to protect not just their wealth but the exploitative system that helped them amass it."</p>
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Therapy app Talkspace mined user data for marketing insights, former employees allege
A report from the New York Times raises questions over how the teletherapy startup Talkspace handles user data.
11 August, 2020
Talkspace.com
- In the report, several former employees said that "individual users' anonymized conversations were routinely reviewed and mined for insights."
- Talkspace denied using user data for marketing purposes, though it acknowledged that it looks at client transcripts to improve its services.
- It's still unclear whether teletherapy is as effective as traditional therapy.
<p>A recent report raises questions over how the mobile therapy company Talkspace handles user data.</p><p>Launched in 2014, Talkspace is an app that provides its users access to licensed therapists through text, audio, and video. To access therapy, users fill out a questionnaire to get "matched" with a therapist, and then, for prices starting at about $200 per month, they begin chatting with their therapist through whichever medium they prefer. </p><p>This model can help make therapy more accessible for people short on time or money. But according to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/technology/talkspace.html" target="_blank" rel="dofollow">new report from The New York Times,</a> former employees say that "individual users' anonymized conversations were routinely reviewed and mined for insights," and that Talkspace data scientists "shared common phrases from clients' transcripts with the marketing team so that it could better target potential customers."</p><p>The company denied using client conversation transcripts for marketing purposes, but did acknowledge that "data science and clinical leadership will from time to time share insights with their colleagues."</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU1MTk5My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTU5MTMxOH0.fH5el_-_mErIrU65FLZiqBI1aKa8fMCGVXUwtnLgSj4/img.png?width=980" id="299a4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9a0253bda912ccfd2026806c7e4a37cf" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Talkspace.com
<p>Former employees also questioned the legitimacy of certain interventions by the company into client-therapist interactions. For example, after one therapist sent a client a link to an online anxiety worksheet, a company representative instructed her to try to keep clients inside the app.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"I was like, 'How do you know I did that?'" Karissa Brennan, a therapist who worked with Talkspace from 2015 to 2017, told the Times. "They said it was private, but it wasn't."</p><p>Other former employees said the company would pay special attention to its "enterprise partner" clients, who worked at companies like Google. One therapist said Talkspace contacted her for taking too long to respond to Google clients.</p><p>Talkspace responded to the Times with a Medium <a href="https://medium.com/@founders_22883/talkspace-founders-respond-to-a-new-york-times-article-78d6f5c45c59" target="_blank">post</a>, which claimed the Times report contained false and "uninformed assertions."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Talkspace is a HIPAA/HITECH and SOC2 approved platform, audited annually by external vendors, and has deployed additional technologies to keep its data safe, exceeding all existing regulatory requirements," the post states.</p>HIPAA concerns
<p>However, if the claims in the Times report are true, Talkspace may have violated the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files//hipaa-privacy-rule-and-sharing-info-related-to-mental-health.pdf" target="_blank">Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule</a>, which prohibits providers from disclosing patients' medical data for marketing purposes, unless the patient gives <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html" target="_blank">authorization</a>.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"If it is true that Talkspace used information from private therapy sessions for marketing purposes, that is a clear violation of trust with their customers," Hayley Tsukayama, Legislative Activist from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/08/10/therapy-app-talkspace-allegedly-data-mined-patients-conversations-with-therapists/" target="_blank">Salon</a>. "All companies should be very clear with their customers about how they use personal information, make sure that they don't use information in ways that consumers don't expect, and give them the opportunity to withdraw consent for those purposes on an ongoing basis. Talkspace trades on its trustworthiness and mentions privacy frequently in its ad campaigns. Its actions should be in line with its promises."</p><p>(It's also worth noting that Talkspace recently threatened legal action against a security researcher who wrote a blog post outlining the potential discovery of a bug that allowed him to get a year's subscription for free. A report from <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/09/talkspace-cease-desist/" target="_blank" rel="dofollow">TechCrunch</a> notes that Talkspace rejected the findings, and that the company does not offer a way for researchers to submit potential security bugs.) </p><p>Beyond privacy concerns, the report also raises questions about the efficacy of teletherapy, especially within a corporate model.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The app-ification of mental health care has real problems," Hannah Zeavin, a lecturer at the University of California and author of an upcoming book on teletherapy, told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/technology/talkspace.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Times</a>. "These are corporate platforms first. And they offer therapy second."</p><p>The main problem with judging the efficacy of teletherapy is the lack of solid research — it's too new to comprehensively compare it with in-person therapy. Still, some <a href="https://www.theraplatform.com/blog/284/is-telemental-health-effective-how-does-it-measure-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">studies</a> suggest it could be useful for at-risk populations, or for people in the wake of a disaster.</p>'It's just not therapy'
<p>But others remain skeptical.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Maybe [teletherapy] products and services are helpful to certain people," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/technology/talkspace.html" target="_blank">said</a> Linda Michaels, a founder of the Psychotherapy Action Network, a therapists advocacy group. "But it's just not therapy."</p><p>Proper therapy or not, it's worth considering how platforms like Talkspace use — and possibly even depend on — user data. In a 2019 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/opinion/health-care-data-privacy.html" target="_blank" rel="dofollow">opinion piece published in the Times</a>, Talkspace co-founder Oren Frank wrote:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The vast amount of information each of us possesses is far too important to be left under the control of just a few entities — private or public. We can think of our health care data as a contribution to the public good and equalize its availability to scientists and researchers across disciplines, like open source code. From there, imagine better predictive models that will in turn allow better and earlier diagnoses, and eventually better treatments.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">Your health care data could help people who are, at least in some medical aspects, very similar to you. It might even save their lives. The right thing to do with your data is not to guard it, but to share it."</p><p>Would you?</p>
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How face masks are fooling facial recognition software
A new study explores how wearing a face mask affects the error rates of popular facial recognition algorithms.
28 July, 2020
Credit: B. Hayes/NIST
- The study measured the error rates of 89 commercial facial recognition technologies as they attempted to match photos of people with and without masks.
- Wearing a mask increased error rates by 5 to 50 percent among the algorithms.
- The researchers said they expect facial recognition technology to get better at recognizing people wearing masks. But it's not clear that that's what Americans want.
<p>Wearing a face mask shields you from not only viruses, but also facial recognition software, according to a new <a href="https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2020/07/nist-launches-investigation-face-masks-effect-face-recognition-software" target="_blank">study</a> from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).</p><p>The study tested how accurately 89 commercial facial recognition algorithms could identify people who had masks on. To do that, the researchers tested a specific method of facial recognition called "one-to-one" matching, where the software compares a photo of a person to a different photo of the same person. The algorithm works by measuring the exact distance between a person's facial features, and it's the same technique used to unlock smartphone and verify passports. </p><p>The team tested the algorithms on about 6 million photos. Each photo set showed the same person twice: once with a digitally applied mask, once without. The results showed that masks effectively confused the software, causing a 5 to 50 percent spike in error rate in the algorithms.</p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxODQ5My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDE1NzYwNX0.7mCZwqfWPSLgGVY45ZiAiolqMgoGlRX-tzRfF1xYKwM/img.png?width=980" id="8a01c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="82035bafe2fe2c9b6ae00ffe1f86ee41" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Facial recognition experiment" />
NIST digitally applied mask shapes to photos and tested the performance of face recognition algorithms developed before COVID appeared. Because real-world masks differ, the team came up with variants that included differences in shape, color and nose coverage.
Credit: B. Hayes/NIST
<p>But not all masks thwarted the software equally. For example, black masks led to higher error rates than blue masks (though the researchers said they weren't able to completely explore how color affected the software). Error rates were also higher when people wore wide masks (as opposed to rounder ones) that covered most of the nose.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"With the arrival of the pandemic, we need to understand how face recognition technology deals with masked faces," said Mei Ngan, a NIST computer scientist and an author of the report. "We have begun by focusing on how an algorithm developed before the pandemic might be affected by subjects wearing face masks. Later this summer, we plan to test the accuracy of algorithms that were intentionally developed with masked faces in mind."</p><p>The researchers said they expect facial-recognition software will get better at recognizing people wearing masks.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"But the data we've taken so far underscores one of the ideas common to previous FRVT tests: Individual algorithms perform differently," Ngan said.</p>American opinion on facial recognition
<p>But do Americans even want better facial recognition technology? The answer depends on who's deploying the software. A <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/09/05/more-than-half-of-u-s-adults-trust-law-enforcement-to-use-facial-recognition-responsibly/" target="_blank">2019 survey from Pew Research Center</a> found that 56 percent of Americans would trust law enforcement to use facial recognition technology responsibly, while 59 percent said it's acceptable for officials to use the software to monitor public spaces for threats.</p><p>Americans are more wary of trusting the private sector with facial recognition. For example, 36 percent of respondents said they'd trust technology companies to use the software responsibly, while only 16 percent said they'd trust advertisers to do the same.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxODQ5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTgyNzc3M30.wOU9SpP-0-71oxYlRqe2d4rFs3NfBiOQ3vzp-9KgErM/img.jpg?width=980" id="429b2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="12cb800fde3a9e619a3073971ffd9f22" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="silhouettes of people standing in front of a security camera" />Tests On Facial Recognition Technology Begun At Berlin Suedkreuz
<p class=""><br></p>(Photo by Steffi Loos/Getty Images)
<p>No matter how Americans feel about facial recognition, it's probably here to stay. After all, the FBI already has a database of more than <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/the-future-of-facial-recognition-in-america.html" target="_blank">641 million facial images</a>, many of which simply come from publicly accessible social media posts. And even though cities like San Francisco have banned the technology, police across the country are using it with increasing frequency.</p><p>Georgetown Law School's Center on Privacy and Technology <a href="https://www.perpetuallineup.org/findings/deployment" target="_blank">estimates</a> that "more than one in four of all American state and local law enforcement agencies can run face recognition searches of their own databases, run those searches on another agency's face recognition system, or have the option to access such a system."</p>
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How governments are responding to the public's demand for more data transparency
Innovative use of blockchain tech, data trusts, algorithm assessments, and cultural shifts abound.
23 June, 2020
Depositphotos
- A study published last year by the Pew Research Center found that most American's distrust the federal government, and there's plenty of evidence to suggest that the situation has yet to improve.
- Governments have more access than ever to our private information, which creates an inherent tension between how they can use data for the public good while ensuring they aren't abusing citizens' privacy rights.
- As emerging technologies mature, it will become more evident to the public which models are the most effective ways for governments to achieve the levels of transparency they've committed to delivering.
<p>Government transparency is a <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1017/S0022381611000880" target="_blank">central tenet</a> of liberal democracies. In many countries, including the United States, transparency is enshrined into the constitution and laws, such as the <a href="https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/data-transparency/history-overview.html" target="_blank">Digital Accountability and Transparency Act</a>. </p><p>Nevertheless, trust in government is on the decline. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/us/politics/pew-trust-distrust-survey.html" target="_blank">study</a> published last year by the Pew Research Center found that most American's distrust the federal government. Recent events such as the coronavirus pandemic, bailouts, and <a href="https://bigthink.com/videos/black-lives-matter" target="_self">the Black Lives Matter protests</a> casting a shadow over the Trump 2020 presidential campaign aren't likely to have improved the situation.</p>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMjU3NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzE0MTgxN30.IE-wOVUTc7KgFQjsvxlFX0TmPM3QSOnNhR_tZWdvif0/img.png?width=980" id="c5bfa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fe25d9fd229b1510305cb5f7bf22e633" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="New Yorker tweet about Steven Mnuchin not releasing list of pandemic loan recipients" /><p>However, it's important to remember that this is hardly only an American problem. The <a href="https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/440941/Trust%20Barometer%202020/2020%20Edelman%20Trust%20Barometer%20Global%20Report-1.pdf" target="_blank">Edelman Trust Barometer</a> measures the trust in NGOs, business, government, and media. In 2020, the Barometer showed a drop in trust across many nations, including Canada, Australia, and the UK.</p><p>While governments risk decreasing public trust through their handling of events such as the pandemic, such events also create more pressure for governments to demonstrate transparency. The virus crisis results in inquiries into fields such as public health expenditure, while the protests are prompting calls to address institutional biases. </p><p>The increasingly prevalent use of technologies such as big data and AI means that governments have more access than ever to our private information. This creates an inherent tension between how governments can use data for the public good while ensuring they aren't abusing citizens' privacy rights.</p><p>European countries have recently been wrangling with this tension, as a privacy row has been brewing over the use of <a href="https://bigthink.com/coronavirus/britain-covid-app" target="_self">virus track-and-trace applications</a>. An extremely effective way to curb infections happens to involve surveillance of the public with unprecedented precision and scale, and who's to say what all the implications of allowing it may be? Who will gain access to this data, either legitimately or by hacking? What will they do with it? Once the pandemic ends, what happens to these access privileges? </p><p>Using emerging technologies inevitably increases the scope and scale of government data collection. However, technology can also be put to use by governments that want to demonstrate their commitment to improving transparency.</p>
Using blockchain to secure citizens’ data
<p>The Austrian government has recently turned to blockchain as a means of establishing transparent communications about the COVID-19 crisis, between authorities, institutions, and citizens. Communication specialist A-Trust has launched the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/austrian-govt-pilot-aims-to-secure-covid-19-communications-with-blockchain-tech" target="_blank">QualiSig project</a>, on Ignis, part of the Ardor blockchain platform.</p><p>The project will use transparent, encrypted communications visible on the blockchain, and decentralized data storage to secure data against attacks. Citizens can control the use of their own data using qualified digital signatures. </p><p>Alexander Pfeiffer, Danube University Krems researcher, and partner to A-Trust, has a high degree of confidence that blockchain can help to increase trust in governments. "The more such solutions are used by government agencies and their partners, the more likely it is that citizens will regain confidence in the operations of these government authorities," he wrote in an email. "In addition, it will also be possible to work much more efficiently and on a much higher level of mutual trust between the parties involved."</p><p>This is the second time the Austrian government has engaged Jelurida, the Swiss firm that operates Ardor, in projects designed to improve transparency. In May this year, the Austrian government <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/austrian-government-backed-project-will-use-blockchain-to-find-waste-heat-spots" target="_blank">announced</a> funding for a sustainability project designed to pinpoint sources of waste heat that could be redirected back into the energy grid. The "Hot City" project is a collaboration with the Austrian Institute of Technology and plans to use the Ignis chain for providing rewards to citizens submitting data about waste heat that can be harnessed for the public good. </p><p>An outspoken advocate of using blockchain to increase transparency, Lior Yaffe is the co-founder and director of Jelurida. "For the Austrian government, funding applied blockchain technologies has been a major priority for several years," he told Big Think. "Now, the Hot City and QualiSig projects show how a public blockchain can be used to store and display specific datasets, thus increasing transparency." </p>Demonstrating transparency in the electoral process
<p>The potential for using blockchain to demonstrate electoral transparency has been hotly discussed for years now. The first such experiment took place in Denmark back in 2014, when the Liberal Alliance party used blockchain for one of its local elections.</p> <p>At the time, the chair of the party's IT group made a bold prediction. "Voting is the most important process in a democratic society," <a href="https://www.version2.dk/artikel/liberal-alliance-holder-e-valg-med-bitcoin-teknologi-57645" target="_blank">he said</a>. "Here, there is no doubt that new technology will play an increasing role going forward."</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMjU4MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjg0ODAyOH0.IH-EbGtWZRchXtPjFjWkVw6Fd6ly_FUbfQdvDdpWzDQ/img.png?width=980" id="f3980" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c22d232439d1a0321432902507301d07" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Person inside holding "India stay home" sign" /><p>However, as things stand in 2020, blockchain in elections hasn't moved forward at quite the pace many had previously predicted. Most local and national elections still take place using the same pen-and-paper process that has been in place for decades.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the Indian election commission is <a href="https://news.bitcoin.com/india-voting/" target="_blank">among the latest</a> to join the many government bodies that continue to experiment in this area. </p>
Using transparency to combat corruption
<p>Countries that have had problems with corruption going back generations have an especially steep mountain to climb when it comes to gaining public trust. Ukraine is one such example. As part of a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/01/ukraine-rows-back-anti-corruption-law-imf-aid-in-jeopardy.html" target="_blank">bailout agreement</a> in 2015, the International Monetary Fund demanded that the country's government do more to fight corruption.</p> <p>In 2017, the Ukrainian government engaged blockchain firm Bitfury to store all of its data on the blockchain, in an attempt to demonstrate better transparency. In September that year, the justice ministry successfully used the technology for auctioning seized assets, and later transferred state property and land registries to the platform. </p> <p>"We want to make the system of selling seized assets more transparent and secure," Deputy Justice Minister Serhiy Petukhov <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-blockchain/ukrainian-ministry-carries-out-first-blockchain-transactions-idUSKCN1BH2ME" target="_blank">told Reuters</a>, "so that the information there is accessible to everyone so that there aren't concerns about possible manipulation."</p>Creating a culture of transparency
<p>While technology can be a useful tool for governments to demonstrate transparency, it's not the only means. Some countries, particularly those in northern Europe such as Norway and Denmark, are renowned for their culture of governmental transparency.</p> <p>Canada also ranks highly in transparency from an international perspective, although its <a href="https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2019/press-and-downloads" target="_blank">Corruption Perceptions Index score</a> has been dropping. </p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMjU4NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjQyMzgyMH0.amOetbFtQ54_3Jzue27ocLWSqyv1y27c-TTfIMNmJfc/img.png?width=980" id="6cd6e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="df7390880e23c80c9cf7d5a31022ee3c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>It's intriguing that domestic perceptions don't always appear to align with these rankings. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, some quarters of the Canadian academia have been highly critical of Justin Trudeau's government.</p>
<p>"Canada has a culture of secrecy. And it's one of the worst things about Canada," Amir Attaran, professor of law and epidemiology at University of Ottawa, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-data-sharing-1.5521574" target="_blank">told</a> the CBC. "Our lack of transparency is a Canadian cultural trait, and it's one that hurts us. It's also part of a larger belief that the government knows best. But it doesn't."</p>
<p>In the same piece, Jean-Noé Landry, who works for a non-profit that advises governments on data transparency, takes a more nuanced approach. He attributes a culture with a high level of government trust as a potential pitfall when it comes to demanding transparency in a crisis such as COVID-19. As he puts it, Canadians "trust the government more in these kinds of situations, and maybe we lower our guard a bit and go along with them. [COVID-19] is not the type of thing where we should be lowering our standards."</p>
Inside the algorithms
<p>One government that has been almost universally lauded for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic is New Zealand's. Even before the crisis, the government there has been taking some impressive measures to demonstrate transparency. One example is its "algorithm assessment" program, launched in 2018, designed to introduce more transparency into how the government is deploying AI for its citizens. </p> <p>Fourteen government agencies used a self-assessment method, underpinned by the government's own "principles for safe and effective use of data and analytics." The outcome was a <a href="https://www.data.govt.nz/use-data/analyse-data/government-algorithm-transparency-and-accountability/algorithm-assessment-report/" target="_blank">report</a> that acknowledged the need to retain human oversight over machine-led decisions and recommended using independent experts in the areas of privacy, ethics, and data expertise. </p> <p>"We must prepare for the ethical challenges AI poses to our legal and political systems," <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-will-move-quickly-ai-action-plan" target="_blank">stated Clare Curran</a>, New Zealand's Minister for Digital Services, "as well as the impact AI will have on workforce planning, the wider issues of digital rights, data bias, transparency, and accountability are also important for this Government to consider."</p>Data trusts, a work in progress
<p>In the UK, the Open Data Institute (ODI) has been working on several pilots to implement "<a href="https://theodi.org/project/data-trusts/" target="_blank">data trusts</a>" in collaboration with various government agencies, in an attempt to create more transparency. The ODI defines a data trust as a "legal structure that provides independent stewardship of data." They aim to increase access to data, along with providing confidence in the use of it.</p><p>The Institute worked on three pilots with varying degrees of success. The pilots attempted to bring transparency to food waste, illegal wildlife trade, and smart city implementation with a focus on parking data for green vehicles. </p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMjU4OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzYxNzQyMX0.4CFaAwXToLey4yOJuzRfzsM3_0Bob_4fb4B3n62SOm8/img.png?width=980" id="c72b8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="584c73066497e8bfb8f4a030e284364d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>The findings from all three pilots were consolidated into a <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/118RqyUAWP3WIyyCO4iLUT3oOobnYJGibEhspr2v87jg/edit#heading=h.9n2mgns2pza7" target="_blank">"lessons learned" document</a> that highlighted the need to flesh out the overall concept and gain a shared understanding of what it means to all stakeholders for data trusts to become successful.</p>
<p>The ODI continues its work in this regard, exploring the use of data trusts and other data stewardship models. </p>
Trust in flux
<p>The events of 2020 so far have amounted to a perfect storm as far as testing government trust goes. Social distancing and shelter in place rules mean that there's a more significant reliance than ever on technology. However, governments need to continue to walk a tightrope of ensuring that they deploy the best technology available while demonstrating transparency.</p> <p>As emerging technologies mature, it will become more evident to the public which models are the most effective ways for governments to achieve the levels of transparency they've committed to delivering. </p>
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