#privacy

Legislation for Camera Enabled TV Set Tops

Last week Congressman Michael Capuano and co-sponsor introduced a bill into Congress whose aim is to restrict the use of camera enabled TV set tops. Cable TV providers are developing the technology so that they can better target their advertising through understanding who is actually watching the TV programs. The cameras will be fitted with ... Legislation for Camera Enabled TV Set Tops

Redazione FGB

DNA Privacy Issues

Last week Scientists in Boston published a report in the journal Science that raises some serious issues about privacy and the treatment of DNA materials. The Boston Globe offers a summary here. Scientists at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research showed how easily this sensitive health information could be revealed and possibly fall into the ... DNA Privacy Issues

Battle for the Internet

Earlier this year the Guardian newspaper ran an interesting series entitled ‘Battle for the Internet’. The series is available online and makes a very interesting read. Over 7 days the series looked at many aspects of internet growth and its effect upon society. Many of the problems addressed have been raised on this website over ... Battle for the Internet

Jonathan Hankins

Face recognition

In an as yet unpublished but widely reported article entitled ‘Privacy In The Age Of Augmented Reality’, Alessandro Acquisiti, Ralph Gross and Fred Stuzman ‘investigate the feasibility of combining publicly available Web 2.0 data with off-the-shelf face recognition software for the purpose of large-scale, automated individual re-identification’. The article that is due for publication in ... Face recognition

Jonathan Hankins

A man, his history and his DNA

by Margherita Fronte One of humankind’s oldest needs – to know oneself. One of the most modern technologies – the DNA testing of a single individual. These are the 2 ingredients of the book entitled Go Ask Your Father: One Man’s Obsession with Finding His Origins Through DNA Testing (Bantam Books, 2009), written by Lennard ... A man, his history and his DNA

Un uomo, la sua storia e il suo Dna

Uno dei bisogni più antichi dell’uomo – quello di conoscere se stessi – e una fra le tecnologie più moderne: l’esame del Dna del singolo individuo. Sono i due ingredienti del libro Go Ask Your Father: One Man’s Obsession with Finding His Origins Through DNA Testing (Bantam Books, 2009), scritto da Lennard Davis, professore di ... Un uomo, la sua storia e il suo Dna

Margherita Fronte

Lennard J Davis at The Bassetti Foundation

The Foundation is pleased to announce that American academic and author Lennard J Davis has accepted an invitation to Milan to participate in a round table discussion about his work and book entitled ‘Go Ask Your Father: One Man’s Obsession with Finding His Origins Through DNA Testing’ recently reviewed on the site. The discussion will ... Lennard J Davis at The Bassetti Foundation

Redazione FGB

Google and Facebook back in the news

Once more this week various newspapers and also the BBC have run critical reports regarding both Google and Facebook’s record on respecting privacy. Last Friday Google were forced to admit that they had been collecting information that had been sent over unsecured wireless networks during its photographing of areas for its street view service. The ... Google and Facebook back in the news

Jonathan Hankins

Internet, the new superpower?

This weekend saw the conclusion of the BBC World News series entitled Superpower. The series takes a look at the Internet and its effect upon people’s lives. The BBC website hosts a section dedicated to the series, featuring interviews and video clips with an impressive lineup of experts within the field. Each weekend features a ... Internet, the new superpower?

Jonathan Hankins

I test genetici: dubbi sulla privacy e potenzialità

In un’intervista a La Stampa lo scienziato-imprenditore islandese Kari Stefansson parla del rilancio della sua azienda, la deCODE genetics, dopo la recente bancarotta, e dell’intenzione riprendere il progetto, iniziato 14 anni fa, di individuare i geni responsabili delle malattie più comuni studiandone la diffusione fra la popolazione dell’Islanda. Nell’obiettivo di Stefansson, ora come nel ’96, ... I test genetici: dubbi sulla privacy e potenzialità

Margherita Fronte

Il caso del body scanner

Sempre più spesso assistiamo alla proposta di oggetti e di innovazioni con un altro contenuto tecnologico che richiedono un particolare sapere esperto per la loro realizzazione. Queste proposte riguardano oggetti fortemente pervasivi nel nostro vivere quotidiano ed è naturale che si sollevino dibattiti infuocati che attivano anche delle vere e proprie controversie tecno-scientifiche sviluppate non ... Il caso del body scanner

Giuseppe Pellegrini

Transparency, Privacy, and Responsibility: An Interview with Jeff Jonas

More directly and obviously than many forms of innovation, software embodies the values of those who create it. This is particularly true of software used to monitor and direct human activity: in the extreme, it can be a tool that saves lives, or one that enables political repression. Software development therefore provides many examples of ... Transparency, Privacy, and Responsibility: An Interview with Jeff Jonas