Armed with good data, engineers wage quiet battle for cleaner air
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation As countries try to slash air pollution and step up action on climate change, many are looking at a key culprit: tailpipes. India in 2016 put into effect its first fuel-economy standards for passenger cars and by 2021 is expected to have lowered planet-warming carbon emissions from new cars by 30 […]
To combat coronavirus, governments step up digital surveillance
Tbilisi, GeorgiaThomson Reuters Foundation The coronavirus pandemic has pushed governments globally to impose draconian lockdowns, travel bans and tighter border controls in a bid to stem the spread of the contagious virus. From China to Russia, containment measures have often come with heightened surveillance, as authorities use artificial intelligence and big data to keep tabs […]
Britons risk having data “sold to highest bidder” after Brexit, whistleblower warns
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation British people’s data privacy will be “hanging in the balance” after Brexit, former Cambridge Analytica staffer-turned-whistleblower Brittany Kaiser warned as the country leaves the European Union on Friday. Kaiser said Britain would need to pass strong privacy legislation to protect its citizens once they are no longer covered by EU law, […]
Strip searches and ads: 10 tech and privacy hot spots for 2020
Tbilisi, GeorgiaThomson Reuters Foundation From whether governments should use facial recognition for surveillance to what data internet giants should be allowed to collect, 2019 was marked by a heated global debate around privacy and technology. Visitors are seen on a screen displaying facial recognition technology at the Consumer Electronics Show Asia 2019 in Shanghai, China, […]
West Africa boot camp seeks artificial intelligence fix for climate-hit farmers
Dakar, SenegalThomson Reuters Foundation Data analyst Fabrice Sonzahi enrolled in a course on artificial intelligence in Dakar, hoping to help struggling farmers improve crop yields in his home country of Ivory Coast. He is part of an inaugural batch of students at a new AI programming school in Senegal, one of the first in West […]
Personal? Private? No such thing in data-hungry world
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Personal data reveals a slew of secrets about friends and family so regulators should stop fixating on individual privacy and safeguard society instead, data experts said on Thursday. From friends’ shopping habits to family health, one person’s data can shed light on a far wider network, with tech firms using individual […]
Mass surveillance fears as India readies facial recognition system
New Delhi, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation As India prepares to install a nationwide facial recognition system in an effort to catch criminals and find missing children, human rights and technology experts on Thursday warned of the risks to privacy and from increased surveillance. Use of the camera technology is an effort in “modernising the police force, […]
Quick facts – Eight major hacks targeting personal data
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Names, addresses and phone numbers of more than 100 million people were stolen in one of the largest hacks to date targeting US bank Capital One, the firm said this week. Personal data is a prized target for hackers as it can be sold on to criminals intent on using it for […]
Data is the new oil so watch out for mass mining – Netflix film
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Big business and politics are mass-mining everyday data – from Facebook ‘likes’ to online subscriptions – for profit and power, according to a Netflix documentary released on Wednesday. The Great Hack says personal data has surpassed oil as the world’s most valuable asset, and warns viewers that companies and governments are hacking […]
In the US, most white evangelicals blame journalists for fake news says survey
RNS A new survey finds that white evangelical Protestants are more concerned about made-up or “fake” news than any other major religious group and are also the most likely to blame journalists for creating it. According to a new report unveiled earlier this month by Pew Research, a majority of white evangelicals (59 per cent) say they […]