Category: Ethics
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UK: AI Reproduction of Copyright Works Are Infringment*
In a landmark decision, the UK government has ruled that AI-generated reproductions of copyrighted works will be considered copyright infringement unless they are explicitly licensed or fall under an exemption. This decision, which was announced after a lengthy consultation process, has significant implications for the creative industries, where AI is…
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Executive Sessions from Intuitive Data Analytics: Uncovering AI Insights
AI is making a massive impact already and adoption is growing at a staggering rate. The AI market is forecast to grow from $150 billion in 2023 to $1.3 trillion by 2030 with an annual growth rate of nearly 37%. During that period, AI is expected to add a net…
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The Ethical Troubles Of Digital Marketing Tactics
Thanks to Facebook and Google, we all have access to more data than we probably should have access to in real life. The field of advertising in particular is becoming very inappropriate in certain cases, pushing digital marketing tactics to their ethical limits. Read More: The Ethical Troubles Of Digital Marketing…
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Facebook says it deleted half a billion fake accounts and 837 million spam message in 1Q 2018
When your platform is built around user-generated content, not everybody will use it for good. Policing the content to make sure people aren’t breaking the law, posting nude photos, hate speech, spreading fake news, or spamming everyone is difficult stuff. It’s a daunting task. “We’re often asked how we decide…
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The Facebook Love Affair Is Finally Over: Users Lose Trust
Two recent polls tell the story: Facebook has lost trust with its users. In light of the revelation that Cambridge America used data from 50 million Facebook users for political purposes without users permission, the social media company’s stock fell by 14% in last week’s trading and #DeleteFacebook continues to…
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Millions of Twitter followers disappear after NY Times investigation
Have you bought Twitter or Facebook followers? Federal and state investigations are underway into the sellers of fake followers and bot engagement. More than a million followers of famous people – who presumably bought the fake followers to pump up their numbers – have literally disappeared in the past few…
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Who should solve the problem of advertisements placed against fake news?
It seems a safe bet to say that it’s an advertising agency issue to avoid placement on questionable websites. Or a tech solution from the programmatic companies to avoid placing ads on ad networks that rely on fake news websites. That’s not how U.S. marketers feel, though, according to a…
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Popular websites record every keystroke you make and put personal information at risk
It’s got a stuffy kind of title: “No boundaries: Exfiltration of personal data by session-replay scripts.” That’s the title of a paper written by researchers at Princeton University. What underlies that title is a potential invasion of privacy and gathering of data without permission on some 480 popular websites. The…
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Quartz: Android phones send location data even when location services are turned off
“When you use Google services, we may collect and process information about your actual location. We use various technologies to determine location, including IP address, GPS, and other sensors that may, for example, provide Google with information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.” – Google Privacy Policy Google says it collects…
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Major changes to online privacy – except in the U.S.
Some big changes are coming to online privacy, especially when it comes to companies like Google and Facebook. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) establishes a new set of rules designed to give people more control over their data. Think about how much of “you” is online. Things…
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Former Facebook President says Facebook is designed to be addictive
There are now documented cases of social media addiction. It’s a real thing. According to Facebook’s first President, it’s no coincidence. Sean Parker started up Napster and later served as Facebook’s President. The billionaire told an audience at Axios in Philadelphia recently that social network are designed to stimulate and…
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A Closer Look: Facebook over-estimates reach by dramatic numbers
Maybe you saw the headline: Facebook claims it reaches more people in the U.S. than actually live in the U.S. It’s pretty startling when you realize, according to a report from the Video Advertising Bureau, that Facebook claims to reach 39 million U.S. adults age 18-24… when there are only…
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One of the creators of Google News calls the search site “shameful and irresponsible” in spreading fake news
Google’s already under fire for its role in spreading “Fake News.” Now, one of the engineers who helped create Google News had quite a bit to say about the search site and it wasn’t flattering. Krishna Bharat helped lead the team the creation team, but posted to Facebook that Google…
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Facebook vows to fight back against foreign interference in US elections
CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid out his plan to protect the integrity of US election. He says he wants to make sure “Facebook is a force for good in democracy.” “I don’t want anyone to use our tools to undermine (our) democracy,” Zuckerberg said in a video address. In order to…
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Facebook: Tracking your in-store visits and serving ads?
When ads target you on-line from where you’ve gone in the real world If clicking on a website once and having its ads stalk you wherever you go on-line wasn’t enough, now there’s real world targeting. Go to a physical store and they’ll re-target you online. Now Facebook appears to…
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If you share it on networking websites, does it become public or can access be limited?
It’s a battle over privacy rights that has constitutional law implications. At the heart of it if a simple question with an incredibly complex answer: If you share it on social networking websites, does it become public or can access by limited? Right now, the case features two companies going…
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Can public officials block citizens on social media or is it a violation of their constitutional rights?
Here’s an interesting debate: If you’re a public official, should you have the right to block people from your social media page? A number of public officials are being sued, including Governor’s in Maryland, Kentucky, and Maine, by state ACLU chapters. Kentucky Governor Sued In Kentucky, the ACLU there filed suit…
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FTC investigates allegations of deceptive pricing tactics by Amazon
When a company like Amazon buys a company like Whole Food, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) takes a look at a lot of other things than just the business deal at hand. Reuters reports that the FTC is looking into allegations of misleading price tactics used by Amazon. The investigation…
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93% of sponsored celebrity posts aren’t FTC complaint
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced it was cracking down on improperly-labeled native advertising and disclosures on paid social media posts. In April, the FTC sent out more than 90 letters reminding influencers and marketers that influencers should clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships to brands when promoting or endorsing products through social…
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10,000 Facebook users die every day
“…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” — Benjamin Franklin 1789 Benjamin Franklin would never have anticipated anything like social media. From chronicling the mundane (what I ate for lunch) to the monumental (Trump as President), Facebook has become the background of life for many.
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Facebook refuses to release political advertising data
Television stations must disclose to the public which politicians bought advertising on which station, how much they spent, and where the ads run. It’s available for anyone that wants to go the station’s section on the FCC website for all to see. Not so for the internet. Facebook, not known…
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Mixing GPS location data with advertising
The privacy folks are about to have a whole lot of new things to worry about. We’ve all been cyber-stalked by ads following us around the internet. Publishers put a pixel, in most cases, on their website that tie into their ad network buys. This allows them to track where…
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The Illusory Truth Effect: The more someone sees “fake news,” the more they believe it
A study done by Yale University’s Department of Psychology, Department of Economics, and School of Management concluded that “even a single exposure (to fake news) increases perceptions of accuracy.” Here’s the kicker: Even when flagged as disputed by fact-checkers, or warned that the story might be fake, the perception of…
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Man fined $4,000 for clicking the Like button of defamatory Facebook posts
Here’s a twist. A Swiss man has been fined roughly $4,000 bucks for clicking the Like button on Facebook. Yup, you read that right. Fortune reports that the man (not named in court) clicked the Like button on what a judge termed defamatory comments on Facebook. By clicking the Like…
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Social media companies facing fines for failing to remove hate speech, illegal content quickly enough
Social Media is under attack again in Great Britain as government officials debate fines if Facebook and Twitter don’t remove illegal content fast enough. Britain’s home affairs committee unleashed a scathing report, going so far as to suggest the social media companies pay for policing. They compared it to a…
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FTC cracks down on Zombie Cookies that track your online behavior even after you opt-out
The Federal Trade Commission has finalized a settlement with Turn over its use of Supercookies (also called Zombie Cookies). The FTC has accused Turn of deception by tracking consumers for ads even after people tried to opt out. While not admitting any wrongdoing, the settlement will prohibit Turn from misrepresenting…
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Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press
I put this up right outside my office door to remind everybody who walks into our TV station how important it is that journalists do their job. The Bill of Rights warrants Congress shall make no law abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press. The founders saw journalists…
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Three challenges for the web, according to its inventor
Al Gore jokes aside, the man credited with creating the WWW in web addresses says we’ve got some big problems on-line that need to be addressed. He’s published a letter to the world, titled “Three challenges for the web, according to its inventor.” In the letter, Tim Berners-Lee, talks about…
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Majority of millennials say they don’t think pirating video is illegal
There’s more evidence that this Millennial generation is really different than Boomers. Taking a look at two studies, one done by YouGuv commissioned by Irdeto and the other by Anatomy Media, shows than more than half of millennials watch content illegally. The survey also asked if they felt any guilt or…
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Bipartisan investigation demands answers on cable TV’s “misleading fees and sales practices”
In a bi-partisan effort, Senators from both parties are calling on Charter Communications (which also acquired Time Warner) and Comcast to stop what they call “misleading placement of fees on customers’ bills, and inadequate advertising disclosure for service promotions.” They’ve asked before and say they’ve never got an answer to…
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Now ransomware is showing up on a Smart TV?
Wow. Just wow. Darrn Cauthon is a software developer. On Christmas day, he says, a family member was using their Smart TV and downloaded an app to watch a movie. The TV set froze up. When it rebooted, this notice appeared claiming to be from FBI Director James Comey. Full…
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Four times people were threatened or sued for leaving bad reviews on Yelp… and won
Put a bad review on line and you risk not just making the business mad, but maybe lawsuits and fines. You may not even know you’re doing something that could get you in trouble, but buried in the TOS (term of service agreements) you never read, or buried in some…
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The dirty little secret of digital ad networks
In the rush to move to digital advertising, there’s been an awful lot of ad dollars wasted because people didn’t really know what they were buying. Remember the early days of the world wide web? People reported “hits” – which we then learned equated to server calls and could be…
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Looking for inspiration? 17 quick quotes about leadership
Here are several of my favorite quotes about leadership.
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Meet the Most Wanted U.S. Cyber Criminal
Joshua Samuel Aaron (aka Mike Shields) is wanted for a litany of crimes stemming from a scheme right out of the movies. He and his associates are charged with manipulating stock prices, driving them up artificially, and then dumping them for profit. The US Attorney for the Southern District of…
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A symbol of the Civil Rights Movement, group charges copyright fees to use “We Shall Overcome”
Should the song be Public Domain? The same law firm that succeeded in getting “Happy Birthday” into the public domain is now trying to get “We Shall Overcome” released from copyright. This week, a federal court ruled to let the case move forward. The song became a galvanizing force in the…
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Should internet providers be held liable when its users illegally download content?
“In this copyright action, the putative owners of more than 1,400 musical composition copyrights seek to hold Cox Communications, Inc. and Cox Com, LLC (collectively, “Cox”) contributorily and vicariously liable for alleged copyright infringement taking place over its high-speed internet service.” With those words, the court’s opinion in the case…
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When did we become an opt-out world?
We all know that nobody reads Terms of Service on anybody’s website, or User Agreements when downloading an app. We have just come to accept that there’s probably bad stuff in there that we won’t want but it’s the price we have to pay. I say enough! It’s time to…
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Google News adds Fact Checking to top stories
In the world of social media and online aggregation, the one thing that is most rare is truth. Every day I come across stories and posts that stretch the truth or obliterate it completely. I believe it’s a big part of why the trust in media in general has plummeted…
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Does a newspaper have an ethical obligation to reveal the source of its advertisers?
A controversial mailer and newspaper ads have the folks in Allentown, PA upset. It’s led to resignations of a school’s CEO and teachers and has been condemned by educators and public officials. The local newspaper knows who paid for it. Do they have an obligation to reveal who’s behind it?…
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Newspaper publisher, lawyer charged with felonies after filing Open Records request
“We are shocked that any journalist would be jailed for simply asking a question,” the Society of Professional Journalists said in a statement in Atlanta Journal-Constitution So are journalists across the country. Not only have the publisher and lawyer been charged with felonies (felonies!), but they had to post $10,000…
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How do you know what you’re seeing is real?
Breaking News! At the local TV station, they roll out a microwave live truck, a reporter and photographer, light up the studio, get the anchors in place, and bring in the control room crew. 7 or 8 people, a million dollars’ worth of equipment, and 10–15 minutes later, you’re on…
Paul Dughi.com 