Cool Happenings in Responsible Tech This Week! Oct 24

There are so many great happenings in Responsible Tech! Interested in having your project or event potentially featured? Please email Sandra Khalil, our Head of Partnerships.

Here are a few events and happenings we’re highlighting this week…

“Hello to all those interested in privacy! I’m Albert Fox Cahn, a lawyer, technologist, activist, and the founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. I also am a Practitioner-in-Residence at NYU Law School’s Information Law Institute, where I'll speak on a panel this Thursday about barriers to online age verification. New age verification laws introduced around the country make this a critical time to think about how these laws actually work, and who is impacted by them. The forum will also feature panels on how child data privacy laws impact different communities, and how youth are impacted by online parental consent requirements. The forum will be held this Thursday, October 26th, from 8:30am - 12:00pm and NYU Law School. Anyone interested in joining can RSVP here: ILIChildPrivacyRSVP@gmail.com. And you can learn more about all of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project’s efforts here: www.stopspying.org” -Albert Fox Cahn

“What do we mean by age appropriate design? Why is it important -- not just for children, but for all -- to design with children in mind? In this Pop-Up hosted by Project Liberty, we’ll hear from Leanda Barrington-Leach, Director of International Advocacy at 5Rights Foundation, about the principles and approach of age appropriate design, drawing from the legislative success of the AADC in the UK as well as learnings from around the world.

Register for Project Liberty Pop-Up: Designing with Children in Mind (zoom link | email).” -Joe Tropeano

“Hello! I’m Nick Kessler, I help build early stage data+AI companies at super{set} and also lead a lot of the work for the Ethical Tech Project, including our newsletter. Our work, as a “think-and-do-tank” focuses on encouraging companies to prioritize the ethical use of data. This includes weekly posts on our newsletter and developing our “privacy stack” to help engineers build “privacy-by-design” software.

Our most recent initiative is our AI Consumer Survey, which we commissioned to give a deep understanding of how U.S. consumers feel about AI and data privacy. This survey will help us persuade business leaders that consumers will reward companies that take privacy and ethics seriously. We’ll be going over the survey results in the coming weeks, and will have in-person events taking place in San Francisco, NYC and Boston in October and November. We’d love to meet some of you in person - subscribe here to get notified!” -Nick Kessler

“Hello responsible tech community! My name is Sylvie Antal and I lead outreach and partnerships at Portulans Institute, a Washington DC-based think-tank focused on technology and innovation policy. On November 20th we’ll be launching our annual Network Readiness Index in collaboration with Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. The NRI is an in-depth analysis of 134 countries’ performance across four dimensions of digital readiness -
technology, people, governance, and impact. It is used as a benchmarking tool in government and civil society to ensure that technology is adopted in inclusive, sustainable ways. This year’s report will draw attention to the potential for a serious crisis in public trust in the internet and related technologies in our networked world. The launch event will serve as a platform for unveiling the findings of the 2023 report and engaging in discussions about the vital aspect of restoring trust in our networked society, with perspectives from government, industry, and
academia.

The report’s global launch will be held on November 20th both online and in-person (at University of Oxford). You can learn more about the event + register here. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out at info@portulansinstitute.org!”– Sylvie Antal, Policy, Research, and Communications Associate, Portulans Institute

“Hi folks! My name is Kian Vesteinsson, and I’m a researcher at Freedom House. Last week, we released Freedom on the Net 2023: The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence. I think you’ll find it interesting. Our research found that advances in AI have been used to increase the scale, speed, and efficiency of digital repression. Meanwhile, attacks on free expression are growing more common around the world, driving the 13th consecutive year of decline for global internet freedom. We call on policymakers and the private sector to adapt the lessons learned from past internet governance challenges and apply them to AI.You can find The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence—along with briefs on conditions for human rights online in 70 countries around the world, recommendations for governments and companies, and more information about our methodology and network of contributors—at www.freedomonthenet.org.” -Kian Vesteinsson

“Hello responsible tech-ers! My name is Jean Rogers and in addition to being a huge fan of Responsible Tech, I’m the director of the Screen Time Action Network at Fairplay. We have a youth mentoring program called NextGen Connect that I’d like to tell you about.We know young people are the generation who have been hurt most by constant screens and harmful content on social media. NextGen is an opportunity for youth leaders to make a difference in the lives of future generations of children and teens. We’ve created a unique opportunity for 18-24 year olds in the U.S. to get paid $3,000 while spending 12 weeks on their creative projects related to tech accountability with a mentor who is an expert in the field.

Applications are open now for youth leaders and you can find all the information you need to apply here and if you have any questions, please email nextgen@fairplayforkids.org.”-Jean Rogers 

“Hello responsible tech-ers! My name is Daniella Raposo. I work on the Innovation team at Consumer Reports, where we are designing, prototyping and scaling new solutions to problems facing consumers today. You may be familiar with some of our work, if you’ve played around with CR’s Security Planner or Upkept. But I’m here today to share that we are officially launching our free data privacy app called Permission Slip!  CR’s Permission Slip is a mobile app that helps you take back control of your data. With just one tap, Consumer Reports will send legally-enforceable data rights requests - on your behalf - to companies, telling them to stop selling your data or to delete it entirely. Whether you're team Android or team Apple, you can download the Permission Slip app today and experience it for yourself.

We believe privacy is a right, not a setting. We’re asking this community to try Permission Slip today, and share Permission Slip with a friend so they too, can take back control of their data. We can’t wait to hear what you think of the app! Please reach out to us at permissionslip@cr.consumer.org for any questions, thoughts, ideas and more!” - Daniella Raposo