[kictanet] Google, machine learning, and the right to a fair trial — New Zealand style

Thu Sep 13 01:16:17 EAT 2018

https://www.aei.org/publication/google-machine-learning-and-the-right-to-a-fair-trial-new-zealand-style/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTmpZMlpUSTNaRFk0T1dNeSIsInQiOiJxQkpjSnl5XC9UUkxrbTRicSthWHZSS1VRajlCRStPVE03ZmxtWk9QSXkxTUtySFwvODhUZU1ZVk9EbDhCXC9laVF2Z1F3WFFOczF5YlpcL3o4NndmK1k0MzJ1K05cLzBoaThWYVBSdnRIUXdmS2RiMXBkT0Z1VG1URlJTcnFaUk41SlJIIn0%3D

Right to be forgotten....read on!
"...... Dodgy data dealings down under
Google has attracted a lot of controversy (notably in Europe) for the fact that its search engine is very good at finding any content that has ever been placed in the public searchable domain —  including content on individuals who would prefer that it could be forgotten. However, last week in New Zealand, it was not its ability to find content but the efficacy of its own learning algorithms that came to the local media’s attention.

The subject of their interest was a local murder trial. The two co-accused had been granted name suppression — one permanently and one until the trial began. But both claimed that their right to a fair trial would be compromised when the trial began. As the lawyer for the accused with permanent name suppression stated, Googling the revealed name would cause a link to an (apparently unrelated) news story about the other accused to be displayed, even though that person’s name was not included in the search terms.

The Google result was deemed prejudicial: “These two defendants have been friends for a long time, they’ve both got a criminal history, but they’ve never been charged of an offence together — as far as the general public’s concerned they have no connection at all.” The lawyer was concerned that jurors might of their own volition Google the revealed name, thereby coming across the information about the unnamed accused, which might lead them to make decisions based on information not actually presented at the trial. Of course, the unspoken issue was that Google had — inadvertently and innocently — effectively published the identity of the accused with name suppression, thereby violating the court order.

Google’s algorithms don’t forget

It seems the two men have become intertwined in Google’s memory because police investigating the murder used the search engine to look for links between the two men as evidence for the trial. As Google is primed to take note of links made between previously independent search terms, predictably it remembered the police search patterns when nonpolice searchers subsequently entered just one of the names and helpfully returned the conjoined results to the next generation of searchers. To rule out the possibility that Google had simply remembered the identity of past searchers such as the police and the lawyer or the search history of a specific machine, an astute Radio New Zealand journalist adopted a new online identity and typed the name of one accused into a “clean” computer. The results were predictable and conclusive: Google’s learning algorithms had indeed embedded the link into new searches for just one of the terms......."

Be blessed.Regards/Wangari---
Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - "Being of the Light, We are Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on Earth".

    On Monday, 10 September 2018, 11:22:34 GMT+3, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:  

 This is an interesting development. 
No matter how you cut it, its becoming increasingly important that Corporations become good citizens. 
How do we define a Good Corporate Citizen? That in my opinion is still very fluid and will define corporate behaviour going forward. For now unfortunately for Amazon this will be defined by the court of public opinion and although the jury is still not in things are not looking very good for Amazon.

AliHussein

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AHK & Associates

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Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.

On Fri, Sep 7, 2018 at 10:36 PM WANGARI KABIRU via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/05/bernie-sanders-introduces-the-bezos-act-slamming-amazon-low-wages.html
"Sen. Bernie Sanders' criticism of Amazon peaked Wednesday as he and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced legislation to tax corporations for every dollar that their low-wage workers receive in government health-care benefits or food stamps.
The bill, pointedly called the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies, or BEZOS, Act, is aimed at shaming companies like Amazonand Walmart, whose workers rely on public assistance.

For months, Sanders has targeted Amazon, juxtaposing the wealth of CEO Jeff Bezos with reports that Amazon warehouse workers are paid less than industry averages and rely on food stamps.

Bezos is the richest man in the world, with a net worth of more than $168 billion.

"Our legislation gives large, profitable employers a choice: Pay workers a living wage or pay for the public assistance programs their low-wage employees are forced to depend upon," Sanders said of the proposed law.

For example, if an Amazon worker received $2,000 in food stamps, Amazon would be taxed $2,000 to cover that cost.

Amazon has previously called the Vermont independent's claims about working conditions in its fulfillment centers "inaccurate and misleading" and a spokesperson declined to further comment on the bill."

Be blessed.

Regards/Wangari

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