chris g
Professor & snowboarder. I spend a lot of time thinking (& not enough time writing) about algorithms, personalization & big data in education. #digitalredlining
Last synced from Twitter 1246d ago
What AI College Exam Proctors Are Really Teaching Our Kids
Universities are digitally spying on students to make sure they don’t cheat on online tests. A whole generation could be learning to tolerate surveillance.
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chris g
“The rise of proctoring software is a symptom of a deeper mistake, one that we keep making in the internet age: using tech to manage a problem that is fundamentally economic.”
125d
Zoom Deleted Events Discussing Zoom “Censorship”
The action follows the company canceling an event at San Francisco State University where Leila Khalid was meant to give a talk.
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chris g
“Universities tend to get into these lucrative contracts with Zoom, and more or less handed over this very fragile power to decide what is acceptable academic speech and what is not.” ht @ubiquity75
126d
An ed-tech specialist spoke out about remote testing software — and now he’s being sued
"They sued me to silence me."
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Ex-Googler Meredith Whittaker on Political Power in Tech, the Flaws of ‘The Social Dilemma,’ and…
In a new interview, the tech labor activist and A.I. researcher discusses major issues in Silicon Valley today
An Exam Surveillance Company Is Trying to Silence Critics With Lawsuits
One man says he lost his savings after being sued by Proctorio, whose software tracks physical movements to detect “abnormal” behavior during exams.
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chris g
“As use of digital proctoring software has exploded as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, so too has the criticism of those tools. But no company has been quite as aggressive in its response to criticism as Proctorio.”
Fuck them & their bullying tactics.
129d
How Covid-19 Turned College Campuses Into Surveillance Machines
From simple location-tracking apps to buttons that measure biometrics, college campuses have amped up surveillance in response to Covid-19
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chris g
“... universities don’t necessarily need pandemic-specific technology to keep tabs on students. Instead, many of these technologies are being remarketed and repurposed for the Covid-19 era.”
130d
Amazon Faces Allegations It Harvested and Stored Sensitive Voice Data
Amazon is being hit with a class-action suit alleging that the tech giant’s severs are storing biometric voice data from countless callers, in contravention of an Illinois privacy law.
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chris g
"There’s a chance that Amazon ran afoul of the state law by collecting that data without obtaining callers’ consent, storing it on AWS servers, and failing to publicly disclosing its data retention policies."
131d
Amazon Launches Payday Advances for Its Most Precarious Warehouse Workers
The program codifies what many Amazon workers have been saying about their dangerous, low-paying jobs: warehouse workers need an option like this because they're not earning enough to make it to payday.
Lawmakers Demand Investigation into Surveillance of BLM Protests
The move comes after Motherboard found various agencies flying surveillance aircraft over protesting cities.
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chris g
“In the letter, the lawmakers point to how U.S. Customs and Border Protection deployed various aircraft, including a Predator drone, over U.S. cities; and how the FBI flew its own smaller aircraft above Washington D.C.”
135d
Border Patrol Spent $2 Million On Google Maps For A Massive Surveillance Tool
Google tech was purchased for use in CBP’s Automated Targeting System. It may prove problematic for a tech giant whose own employees have asked it to stop working with Trump’s immigration agencies.
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chris g
“Rather than standing for the protection of the vulnerable, Google has, over the past two years, doubled down on cloud and API support for deportations, drone warfare and authoritarian suppression of human rights inquiry...”
137d
Why some onions were too sexy for Facebook
A Canadian seed store inadvertently crossed the line with a seemingly innocent advert for onions.
Watchdog group sues NYPD over sentiment data-tracking records
The New York Police Department hasn't been forthcoming about a tool that purportedly tracks the perception of New Yorkers toward law enforcement.
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chris g
“According to STOP, the NYPD has since 2016 awarded contracts totaling at least $3 million on an algorithm-powered ‘sentiment meter’ that purports to measure attitudes toward the NYPD by precinct.”
145d
Democratic Party leaders are "banging their head against the wall" after private meetings with Facebook on election misinformation
After months of talks, Democrats say Facebook isn’t ready for the election.
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chris g
“Democratic sources told Recode that monthly calls with Facebook that started in May have been ‘maddening’ and have left party members ‘banging their head against the wall.’”
146d
How It Feels When Software Watches You Take Tests
Students say that monitoring programs like Proctorio and ExamSoft discourage them in the moments they’re trying to prove themselves.
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chris g
“... many students are finding that the programs they’re required to use may not have been well-designed to consider race, class or disability — and in some cases, simply don’t work.” 😵😱
151d
ExamSoft’s remote bar exam sparks privacy and facial recognition concerns
To administer bar exams in 20 different states next week, ExamSoft is using facial recognition and collecting the biometric data of legal professionals.
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chris g
Black woman has to shine bright light in her face during entire 2 day exam so ExamSoft remote monitoring tech doesn’t flag her as a cheater. 🤬🤬🤬
151d
Facebook Cannot Separate Itself from the Hate It Spreads
The social network doesn’t just ‘hold a mirror up to society’— it does something much more powerful and concerning
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chris g
That FB thing keeps making the rounds, so just a reminder that it’s a demonstrably false claim that a particular kind of “populism” just *happens* to do better on Facebook. They promote it. They recommend it. They augment it.
153d
r/UBC - PSA Part 2: As of last night, Proctorio has removed the clause in their terms and conditions stating the instructors cannot force students to use Proctorio and must provide alternatives.
218 votes and 27 comments so far on Reddit
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chris g
Never, ever, everrrr say that students don’t care about invasive (ed)tech deployed against them.
154d
The Ring Always Home Drone: A Ridiculous Way For Amazon to Map Your House
As if late 2020 wasn’t exhausting enough, Amazon has announced the Ring Always Home Cam, a flying camera drone for your house. It is…
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chris g
The best review of whatever this thing is called.
“... there is something sinister about the Ring Always Home Cam. That’s because while it probably isn’t much good at monitoring your house or spying on your neighbors, it will be great at spying on you.”
155d
Students Are Rebelling Against Eye-Tracking Exam Surveillance Tools
Invasive test-taking software has become mandatory in many places, and some companies are retaliating against those who speak out.
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chris g
Both students and faculty have been organizing movements against this kind of tech, “arguing that universities should explore new forms of assessment rather than subjecting students to surveillance.” ✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿
156d
Jeff Bezos is about to open a tuition-free preschool called the Bezos Academy where 'the child will be the customer'
Jeff Bezos is weeks away from opening the first Bezos Academy, a year-round preschool for underserved kids.
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chris g
THE CHILD WILL BE THE CUSTOMER.
Wow. Does that mean you will gouge them during their most vulnerable moments or does it mean you will have them use dangerous products that you haven’t vetted because you are “just the marketplace” or is it something else?
158d