The United States slapped Meta with the largest fine it has ever issued for data protection reasons on Monday, demanding that the Silicon Valley giant, which generated $116 billion in revenue in 2022, pay $1.2 billion for moving Facebook user data from the EU to the US, in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation of Europe. The decision follows years of back and forth between Meta and EU data protection authorities over the company's practice of moving user data in and out of the territories where its infrastructure is located. ZDnet has a nice backstory breakdown here.
Anupam Chander, Georgetown law professor pointed on Twitter that the decision has much more to do with concerns about overly broad electronic surveillance by the US government than with its mishandling of EU user data or with Meta specifically. Chander argued that it could pave the way toward a global standard of so-called "data localization," under which companies should store data where they collect it. It may seem simple, but policies like this could really be a game changer for big companies like Meta and Google, whose business models are built on the ability to send data around the world quickly and constantly monetize it.
In other EU privacy news, Spain is set to ban end-to-end encryptionaccording to a leak of a bomb document released earlier this week on WIRED. The key document is a survey of the views of EU member states on the technical measures that could be taken to track providers of child sexual abuse images. Of the 20 countries consulted, 15 expressed at least some interest in limiting end-to-end encryption, with Cyprus and Hungary showing particular enthusiasm along with Spain. If this were to happen, it could have serious implications for apps like Signal and WhatsApp, which allow users to communicate using a technical protocol that prevents anyone, including the company running the app, from reading the content of their messages. A few months ago, when similar proposals surfaced amid deliberations over the UK's Online Security Act, the heads of Signal and WhatsApp said they would stop offering the service in the UK if the state tried to weaken encryption there.
Signal President Meredith Whittaker explained this in detail in a blog post. “Let me be frank,” he wrote, “the encryption is either broken for everyone or works for everyone. There is no way to create a secure back door.” That's true.
Authorities in Guinea blocked access to major social networking sites last week after several days of protests and riots in the country's capital. This week, military officers close two radio stations and threatened to do the same to any media that "attempts against national unity." The West African country has been ruled by its military since the 2021 coup that ousted President Alpha Conde. Although the ruling junta has tried to chart a two-year path to restore civilian rule, an alliance of opposition political leaders and unions have called for demonstrations and a fast track back to civilian rule.
WE GIVE YOU UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME — JUST GIVE US YOUR EYE BALLOONS
Last week, I wrote about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is in the spotlight right now because of ChatGPT, his company's flagship product. A critical concern about super-intelligent AI is that it makes the act of phishing online easier and more convincing than ever. Old-school Twitter bots, for example, are pretty easy to spot if you know what to look for: odd phrases, consistent repetition of certain messages, the occasional misspelling. But with tools like ChatGPT in the wild, it gets a lot more complicated. How do we know who's real when bots start to sound exactly like the real people they say they are?
Altman has a solution for that too. It's called WorldCoin: a cryptocurrency system that claims to offer "a privacy-preserving digital identity designed to help solve important identity-based challenges, including proof of an individual's unique personality." In their own words, WorldCoin also wants to enable "universal access to the global economy by building the largest financial public utility and identity in the world." Talk about lofty goals. All the fuss around ChatGPT seems to have been a boon for WorldCoin, which is about to have increase $100 million
How do you get into WorldCoin? There are two routes you can take. One is to enter on the ground floor. Early WorldCoin investors include Silicon Valley venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz and Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX dumpster fire fame. The other way is to let WorldCoin scan your retina and create an "IrisCode" that will allow the system to verify your identity forever. Since last year, the company has sent its signature chrome "orbs" — futuristic-looking balls with retinal scanners inside — to cities around the world where it has paid people to promote cryptocurrency and attract new users by offering them small amounts of cash, literally in exchange for his ocular data. A big problem is that actually can not buy WorldCoin if you are in the US or EU, due to regulatory restrictions; this, along with the company's Cayman Islands headquarters, does not inspire confidence. Are we really talking about a universal basic income here or is it just magical thinking fueled by big VC? And how will all this iris data be protected against infringement or abuse? WorldCoin offers precious little details on this incredibly important question.
Now is a very good time to read 2022 by Eileen Guo and Adi Renaldi. investigation by WorldCoin for MIT Tech Review. The two journalists visited six countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to find out what exactly happened when WorldCoin representatives went to cities and towns and tried to convince people to give them their iris data. They found that the company used deceptive marketing practices, collected more personal data than it allowed, including data about things like people's heartbeats, and failed to obtain meaningful consent to scan people's iris to begin with. Clearly, the public needs to know a lot more about this company, especially now that it's back in the spotlight. Keep your eyes open.
WHAT WE ARE READING
It's been a busy week here at Coda, so I only have one recommendation, which is the Edward Ongweso Jr. Expert. Shoot down of venture capitalism for The Nation.
From biometrics to surveillance: When people with power abuse technology, the rest of us suffer
