[ad_1]
It is too early to say whether regulations will be adopted or whether antitrust cases are introduced, or which countries, if any, will take the initiative, but after three days of meetings in Ottawa, one thing was perfectly clear : politicians do not hold back in their criticisms of big technology.
Facebook Inc. was perhaps the # 1 public enemy, but during the meeting outrage in Ottawa expanded to include Amazon.com Inc.'s voice wizard concerns. to Microsoft's ownership by LinkedIn. Even Apple Inc. has come for a barbecue – to allow Facebook to place their apps on its devices.
"Now, Facebook has done a lot of damage to your industry. Why do you continue to do business with them? Asked a British Labor MP Ian Lucas a representative of the iPhone manufacturer.
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
"You present yourself as the good ones, but you facilitate the bad guys by using your equipment."
The Great International Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy was brought together with politicians from a dozen countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Morocco, Mexico and Singapore.
The committee was hoping to hear Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Operations Director Sheryl Sandberg, and when the two leaders did not show up on Tuesday, MPs called Parliament to an open notice, which will be served if One of them was going to Canada in the future.
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
For several days, politicians have heard about the dangers of artificial intelligence, the use of social media by dictators to intimidate dissent, confidentiality of data, data collection and information. 39, a host of other policy issues.
The most collegial part of the meeting took place on Monday night when politicians heard various critics of big tech companies. Former BlackBerry co-CEO Jim Balsillie called the data "new plutonium". The academic, Shoshana Zuboff, spoke of "surveillance capitalism" and the two speakers had a very friendly audience.
Tuesday was a spectacular day in Ottawa for Facebook, as leaders of less well-off companies were confronted with a host of aggressive issues and criticism of politicians collectively scandalized by the thunderous privacy scandals plaguing the giant social media.
Wednesday morning was less intense, but the anger of politicians against big tech was still very present.
Mark Royland, head of information security at Amazon Web Service, was repeatedly asked questions he could not answer.
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
"If I connect my Amazon account to Facebook, what information do I share between the two platforms?" Asked UK Conservative MP Damian Collins.
"I'm not aware of any way to connect Facebook to Amazon," Royland replied.
"So you say you can not do it? Can not connect your Facebook and Amazon accounts? Collins followed.
"As far as I know, it's true. I'm going to follow up to make sure that's true, "said Royland.
Three minutes later, Collins reported that Royland was wrong, quoting Amazon's website.
"That said," How can I connect my Facebook account to Amazon? ", Which comes from Amazon.com," Collins said.
"So, I'll just ask, if you do that, what kind of data do you share between the two platforms?"
Royland said that he did not know.
Anger at high-tech seemed to go beyond partisan boundaries, with politicians from all parties and countries expressing frustration and mistrust of corporate behavior.
"The new digital monopolies have recently been the subject of much discussion in the United States. They may be much more durable than the monopolies of the past: the railways, the telephone companies, etc., "said Canadian Conservative MP Peter Kent.
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
"They can crush the competition by buying it or destroying it."
On Wednesday morning, Conservative committee chair Bob Zimmer explicitly asked what to do.
I do not know if I would even presume to understand enough aspects of Facebook to fix it.
Erik Neuenschwander, Apple's Privacy Manager
"It has not been touched yet, so I'll just ask the question. The reason for our presence here is due to a scandal called Cambridge Analytica and to a social media company called Facebook, "Zimmer said.
"From your point of view, Apple and I, too, will ask Mozilla: how to repair Facebook? Or, how would you remedy Facebook?
Apple's privacy officer Erik Neuenschwander said: "I do not know if I would even presume to understand enough aspects of Facebook to fix it."
Alan Davidson, vice president of policy at the Mozilla Foundation, echoed this sentiment.
"From the outside, it's very difficult to decide how to fix another company," he said. "I think a lot of us are really disappointed with the choices they've made and I think, rightly, create concerns among a lot of people and a lot of regulators."
Zimmer, clearly frustrated, said it would be much easier if Apple could align Facebook instead of forcing politicians to do so.
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
"For me, it is very difficult for us to change the legislation in this regard, again, with all the parameters around you," he said.
"It may be easier for Apple to do that, rather than getting lawmakers around the world to do it, but we're trying it out by a soldier. We are really trying. "
Source link
