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Noteworthy Information

Individuals Simple read

Everyone should decide how their digital data are used — not just tech companies

Smartphones, sensors and consumer habits reveal much about society. Too few people have a say in how these data are created and used.

[Simple] How Underground Fiber Optics Spy on Humans Moving Above

Vibrations from cars and pedestrians create unique signals in cables. Now scientists have used the trick to show how Covid-19 brought life to a halt.

[Simple] Wanted: rules for pandemic data access that everyone can trust

In the wake of COVID, a pandemic treaty could be a way to agree on data access before the next emergency strikes.

Business & Government Intermediate read

Privacy-Focused Tech Companies Call for Ban on Targeted Advertising

DuckDuckGo, Vivaldi, Protonmail and others say "businesses can thrive without privacy-invasive practices" and advertising can be done without spying on users.

Business & Government Advanced read

European Parliament approved ePrivacy Derogation

The European Parliament approved the ePrivacy Derogation, allowing providers of e-mail and messaging services to automatically search all personal messages containing material depicting child sex abuse and report suspected cases to the police. The European Pirates Delegation in the Greens/EFA group strongly condemns this automated mass surveillance, which effectively means the end of privacy in digital correspondence. Pirate Party MEPs plan to take legal action. Patrick Breyer (German Pirate Party Member of the European Parliament): “This harms children rather than protecting them”

[Intermediate] Building a data team at a mid-stage startup

A story of a new data team leader successfully growing the team and building a data-first culture in a medium-sized technology company: depicting the initial state of the company with data in many different places, frustrated ML researchers who can’t get their research into production, and confusion over what the data team is actually for - some of the experiences you might relate to.

[Simple] COVID 'vaccine passports' won't be needed for essential services in Canada

Quebec will require its citizens to carry a “vaccine passport” as of Sept. 1 that would serve to exclude those who have not received two doses. Health Minister Christian Dubé stressed the passports would only be mandated in regions that experience outbreaks and would not be needed to access essential services.


Questions Asked

[Advanced] Gatekeeper 2nd Open Call launched

The GATEKEEPER project is an EU-funded initiative under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. Its main objective is to create a GATEKEEPER that connects healthcare providers, businesses, entrepreneurs, elderly citizens and the communities they live in. This connection between stakeholders will promote an open, trust-based arena for matching ideas, technologies, user needs and processes, aimed at ensuring healthier independent lives for older adults.

[Intermediate] Data Sovereignty Now Survey

It’s your data… but are you bothered? How many of us really think about all the data we are producing, or what happens to it? And what does data sovereignty mean to you? Please spare a few minutes of your time to help us learn from one another by sharing your opinions in this anonymised survey on this important topic.


Tools

OwnYourSwarm

Today I finished up a tool that you can use to export your complete history from Foursquare and publish the checkins to your website.

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