Headline of the Week
The UK Government hosts the Inaugral Future Tech Forum
…[Hosted two weeks ago or so]. This was a closed-door forum, which included Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, Lina Khan, chair of the US Federal Trade Commission, and Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority alongside representatives from other countries from the “Republic of Korea to Kenya, Finland and the United States”. In her speech, Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries acknowledged that the entire infrastructure of the global economy – and modern society – is now built around tech, which can do good as well as harm. It was this reason that we needed to get the governance of tech right from the start, rather than playing catch-up, including at the international level with like-minded partners.
She considered that the UK is leading the way [not entirely sure how diplomatic it is…or how true…], and mentioned tie ups that UK have brokered or in the process of brokering:
- Online Safety Bill (creates duty of care between social media companies and users giving rise to as duty to remove harmful content) – it was claimed that the bill went further than any other country to regulate Facebook, Twitter and TikTok [but this is only at the Bill stage, and critics are concerned with freedom of speech, over-policing, and how the rules will be applied]
- 10-year plan to become a global AI superpower, through our National AI Strategy [anyone can make a plan – the crunch is, whether there is enough budget and can it be executed effectively]
- pro-competition Digital Markets Unit
- Digital Trade Network – UK tech companies are given support to expand into Asia Pacific [unclear how effective this is – it appears to be about brokering connections]
- negotiating a “ground-breaking” Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore [not entirely sure how much negotiation space the UK has if we have to preserve EU adequacy status]
- Tech is critical for tackling major challenges such as climate change and the pandemic. However, there is a digital divide within the population, between those who have access to tech and those that do not – even in richer countries.
- Distrust of tech is problematic, borne out by concentration of power in the largest tech companies, spread of misinformation, erosion of privacy and algorithmic bias.
- Necessity of cross-border regulation
- Need to anticipate issues and implement measures, so that we are not playing catch-up.
Big Tech
Facebook hit with allegation that it is responsible for facilitating the genocide of Rohingya muslims
…The claim was issued in the UK, and Facebook has been on notice that it is about to be sued in the US. Facebook’s algorithms is said to be programmed to increase hatred against the Rohingya muslims. In response, Meta has removed some relevant pages.
Complaint before the US Federal Trade Commision against Amazon for unfair practices
…The Strategic Organizing Center has complained that Amazon’s e-commerce platform is not transparent enough as it is not clear why some hits are placed higher up the on the search result. Sponsored offerings should be clearly labelled, it states. Similar sort of principles are proposed by the European Commission for its Digital Services Act.
Apple succeeds against Epic in staying injunction against anti-steering measures allowing Apple to continue prohibiting App downloads via third party sources
…Following a claim by Epic accusing Apple of acting anti-competitively by among other things, placing measures in its App Store that prohibit third party developers from offering Apps to iPhone users without going through the Apple’s App Store, the District Court held that such conduct breached Californian unfair competition law. Apple has appealed, and asked the Federal Circuit to stay the injunction prohibiting Apple from placing anti-steering measures. Federal Circuit agreed, apprehending irreparable harm to Apple pending appeal. Apple had said that the anti-steering measures were necessary to enable Apple to maintain a high privacy and security environment for iPhone users.
Meta’s proposed purchase Kustomer, a customer service management provider is scrutinised by the German Competition Authority
…The main concerns are (i) the possibility that Meta will be able to block Kustomer’s customers from using mainstream communication channels such as Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp and (ii) further data advantage which the merger may confer Meta. Both German and EU investigators are assessing the merger, whilst the UK Competition and Market Authority has given the transaction a green light.
Facebook (now Meta) successfully acquired Instagram and WhatsApp, which some now consider ought to have been blocked, on the account of sheer volume of data Facebook was able to access and amass. The US federal and state enforcers are seeking to unwind these deals, years after the merger.
Uber loses UK High Court case which held that its business model was unlawful
…Uber argued that it was a mere booking agent, and booking acceptances were contracts between the driver and passenger – to limit its liability. This claim was rejected with the High Court holding that “in order to operate lawfully under the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 a licensed operator who accepts a booking from a passenger is required to enter as principal into a contractual obligation with the passenger to provide the journey which is the subject of the booking”. It means drivers will have workers’ rights protections, increasing liability for Uber and creating tax burdens.
Uber fares will inevitably go up.
Workers for the likes of Uber, Deliveroo complain of AI software determining HR issues (including job allocation, detection of fraud e.g. falsely lengthening the travel time)
…Gig workers have complained that AI software is being used to make decisions about employees without any explanation for the decisions. Deliveroo explains in its privacy policy that manual checks on its service “would simply not be possible in the timeframes and given the volumes of deliveries that we deal with”. Courts on the continent have already fined employers who fail to explain reasons for HR type decisions.
Apple allows app developers to collect data of iPhone users – provided the data is anonymised and aggregated
…It is said that Apple has softened its privacy stance because of the damage it is causing the mobile ad ecosystem. If the apps can’t perform optimally, then it will also have knock on effects on Apple itself, which rely on the commissions it charges the app developers when in-app purchases are made.
Artificial Intelligence
Google to use AI to design semiconductor chips
…[slightly old news which I’ve just picked up] Google can design chips using AI in just 6 hours, which takes humans months. Chip designs are all about working out the most computationally efficient layout (out of over 10 to the power of 2500 [that’s 1 with 25 zeros] permutations) of components on a nanometer scale, on a silicon die.
It uses an AI training method known as Reinforcement Learning, very much based on trial and error iterations (rather than finding patterns in a data) – it’s what Deepmind’s AI did to formulate its AlphaGo, the AI which beat a human professional Go player.
Auto
Intel says it will spin out Mobileye
…Intel will retain majority shareholding.
Mobileye (originally Isareli company bought by Intel), is sitting on major assets such as:
- Silicon Systems Software
- Mapping Software + Major data repository, being high resolution digital representation of roads to enable cars to navigate (10 million miles of data uploaded every day – cars are being driven from many locations across the globe).
- ADAS (Advanced driver-assistance systems)
According to CEO Amnon Shashua (interview by CNBC):
What is key to autonomous vehicles?: Cloud Connectivity is key (i) to update Cars over the air (OTA), very much like updating smartphones and (ii) for piecing together detailed map of surroundings of the car.
What are the big challenges for Mobileye? There are two, (i) Scalability – the cars will be camera centric, which will work tougher with specialised sensors, and Mobileye is designing an autonomous vehicle focused system on chip to achieve scalability and (ii) Regulatory – this is in progress.
How do you see the future for Autonomous vehicles? It is difficult to predict. Either (i) there will be Robo taxis, self-driving cars will be used by passengers and with proven safety records and low cost per mile, cities may prohibit the use of legacy cars OR (ii) consumers will hold on to their cars, but they will be autonomous.
Green Agenda
Amazon, BASF and others sign Power Purchase Agreements with Off-shore wind and other renewable energy companies
…BASF has signed a 25 year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Orsted, the offshore wind farm operator. The term is much longer than usual (usually 10 years at longest)– clearly BASF is betting on prices rocketing in the future and decided to bank on an early bird deal.
https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2021/11/p-21-369.html
Amazon signs PPA with Mitsubishi for wind and solar energy supply
Others PPAs include Toyota (solar), Tata (solar), P&G (wind and solar), DuPont (wind)
Apple aims for 2030 carbon neutral goal
Apple is already carbon neutral across its global operations, but by 2030 it says its products will achieve net-zero, which involves its suppliers promising to use clean energy.
Space
Elon Musk left free to make rules for Space warns European Space Agency
…Some info about Starlink:
What is Starlink?: A Satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX [one of Musk’s companies. I mistakenly thought Starlink was the name of another of Musk’s companies]
Objective: Provide high-speed, low latency internet accessible from all four corners of the earth [but in practice, this is subject to the requisite licences to be issued by relevant jurisdictions].
Number of Starlink Satellites orbiting earth right now: about 1600
Projected number of total Starlink Satellites: about 12,000
Any clever facts?: It is designed to autonomously avoid collisions based on tracking data.
Other partners? : SpaceX has contracts with Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform to provide the on-ground networking services.
What’s the problem?: There are 90 or so other businesses such as Amazon’s Project Kuiper, which want to launch satellites in the Low Earth Orbit (defined to be between 150-2000km), but there is no international practice or standards to ensure everybody operates responsibly in space (such as who clears up the space rubbish).
European Space Agency calls for the putting in place of international standards now.
IP Infringement
e-cigarette maker Juul tackles importation of counterfeit vape cartridges in the US
…Juul has successfully prevented importation of counterfeit vape cartridges especially to prevent damage to youths, by filing a number of actions against counterfeit dealers before the ITC on the grounds of patent and design patent infringement. Juul has confirmed many dealers settled once action filed, injunctions have been ordered against those in default. In the latest case, the judge had recommended an exclusion order blocking infringing imports against all importers, not just against identified infringers. This is wide ranging and would have been significant but the ITC announced it will be reviewing whether Juul has a domestic industry which needs to be protected.
In the Spotlight
EU Commission publishes summary of public consultation in relation to the planned Data Act
…Herewith a summary of the summary report of EU Commission’s consultation.
Why is it worth your attention?
It gives a birdseye snapshot on
- what data businesses companies are carrying out [did you know so much dealing in data was happening?]
- what businesses are doing with the data and
- what are the issues and
- what technical facilities and tools are relied upon
The Summary
The EU Commission’s planned Data Act aims to ensure fairness in the allocation of data value among actors in the data economy and to foster access to and use of data. The Act will not alter data protection legislation and will seek to preserve incentives in data generation.
Some interesting findings [very subjective – please review the summary]
With respect to Business –to- Government (B2G) data sharing
- Level of compensation for a business sharing data with public bodies should depend on the specific use-case (55% of the stakeholders).
- Data security measures is important: protection of commercially sensitive data (85% of the respondents to this section) and transparent reporting on how the authority has used the data (79%)
Business-to-Business (B2B) data sharing
- Much data sharing going on in the private sector:
- companies (91%) share data
- ‘many times’ (86% )
- either on voluntary basis (44%) or both on a mandatory and voluntary basis (48%).
- A range of use cases [the last 3 is loosely AI]:
- design innovative products and services (44%),
- optimise the supply chain (31%),
- training algorithms for Artificial Intelligence (29%),
- predictive maintenance (26%)
- A range of obstacles [most of it appears to be stemming from market forces]:
- technical (formats, lack of standards) (69%),
- legal (i.e. refusal to grant access not linked to competition concerns) (55%),
- the lack of a legal basis for the data holder to give access to data (48%)
- abuse of contractual imbalance (44%)
- unreasonable prices (42%).
- Contractual issues – the following thought to encourage data sharing
- model contract terms (60%, agree, 14% disagree).
- a contractual fairness test to avoid unilateral unfair conditions (46% agree, 21% disagree).
- horizontal data access modalities applicable to data access rights established in specific sectors (46% agree, 19% disagree).
- View on Smart contracts – do you think it’s an effective tool to facilitate data transfer/access?
- yes, to use in the context of co-generated IoT data, in particular where the transfer is not only one-off but would involve some form of continuous data sharing (79% in support)
- yes, when individuals request data portability from businesses, (66% in support)
- IoT data originating from professional use [does this mean non-consumer data?]
- Yes, plans to, or already uses IoT objects (55%)
- Data coming from IoT objects may represent new challenges for market fairness, especially when access to relevant information about the functioning and performance is held by the manufacturer of such objects (70%)
- Business organisations in particular see many problems with IoT contracts, such as lack of clarity in terms of data access rights
- Data portability right under Article 20 GDPR – who should control, and what are the issues? (The right to data portability allows individuals to obtain and reuse their personal data for their own purposes across different services – example, user on Facebook may import contacts from Google’s Gmail email service)
- manufacturers of connected objects should not be able to decide unilaterally what happens to the data generated by such objects (70%)
- decisions should be taken by the owners/ users of the objects (68%)
- Need standards ensuring data interoperability is an issue (38%)
- Need clearer rules on data types in scope (33%)
- Need universally used identification/ authentication methods to secure the request (31%)
- Survey on Intellectual Property – which IP Rights are relied upon?
- Trade secrets (45%)
- Contractual terms (45%)
- IP Rights [Copyright? Database right? Unclear] (31%)
- Technical means (31%)
- [Probably in reality all of them are relied upon]
- Database rights need to be reviewed, in particular in relation to the status of machine-generated data (54%)
- Cloud services and non-personal data in international contexts – what are the issues?
- Need to establish a right to portability for business users of cloud computing services in EU legislation (52% agree, 19% disagree)
- Lack of standard APIs, open standards and interoperable data formats, timeframes and potentially other technical elements (51% agree, 16% disagree)
- Potential access to data by foreign authorities on the basis of foreign legislation as a risk to their organisation (76% agree, 0.4% disagree)