‘Automated Racism’: Chinese Police Are Reportedly Using AI to Identify Minority Faces

~ mcequality

According to a report from the New York Times published on Sunday, the Chinese government is using a facial recognition system to track Uighurs, the country’s Muslim minority. The technology reportedly targets this population based on their physical appearance.

According to government procurement documents obtained by the Times, beginning last year, nearly two dozen police departments in China wanted technology that could identify and track Uighur individuals. And the documents reportedly indicate that the interest in this type of tech has grown in the last two years. In Yongzhou, for instance, police wanted software that could “characterize and search whether or not someone is a Uighur.”

via ‘Automated Racism’: Chinese Police Are Reportedly Using AI to Identify Minority Faces

Shamima Begum: IS bride ‘given legal aid’ for citizenship fight – BBC News

~ mcequality

Legal aid has been granted for Shamima Begum – who joined the Islamic State group aged 15 – to fight the decision to revoke her UK citizenship.
The 19-year-old, who left east London in 2015, was stripped of her citizenship in February, after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp.
Her family has previously said it planned to challenge the decision.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Legal Aid Agency’s decision to assist Ms Begum made him “very uncomfortable”.
He added, however, that the UK was “a country that believes that people with limited means should have access to the resources of the state if they want to challenge the decisions the state has made about them”.
Legal aid is financial assistance provided by the taxpayer to those unable to afford legal representation themselves, whether they are accused of a crime or a victim who seeks the help of a lawyer through the court process.

via Shamima Begum: IS bride ‘given legal aid’ for citizenship fight – BBC News

It’s not ‘snowflakery’ to expect basic civility on social media

~ mcequality

Imagine you’re on a train at the end of a working day. You suddenly spot someone who pops up on various media platforms from time to time and whose political views are different to yours. How likely are you to allow yourself to walk over and shout abuse at them so aggressively that they fear for their safety?

Not very likely, I’ll wager, because I’ve been on the receiving end of such aggression only once in this country. It is obviously not because I have won over the hearts of every person who finds me offensive since that rather unpleasant night, but because in the main people are civilised and rarely allow their inhibitions to drop in order to behave like thugs.

But we lose this self-check…

via It’s not ‘snowflakery’ to expect basic civility on social media

Senate bill would ban deceptive data collection by internet giants

~ mcequality

If American legislators have their way, tech companies will have to face more than negative publicity if they collect your data in a less-than-sincere fashion. Senators Mark Warner and Deb Fischer have introduced a bill, the DETOUR Act (Deceptive Experiences To Online Users Reduction), that would bar internet firms with over 100 million monthly active users from tricking you into handing over personal data. Companies wouldn’t be allowed to develop interfaces with the “substantial effect” of preventing you from making an informed decision. They also wouldn’t be allowed to divide users into groups for experiments without consent, and couldn’t develop compulsive experiences targeted at kids under 13 years old (such as auto-playing videos).

via Senate bill would ban deceptive data collection by internet giants

In pop, stars are exploring new sexualities – BBC News

~ mcequality

On Twitter, another fan commented, “Ariana ain’t gotta label herself,” prompting the pop star to respond: “I haven’t before and still don’t feel the need to now”.
Grande isn’t alone. After decades of closeted artists and coded lyrics, a new generation of gender and sexually-fluid pop stars are challenging stereotypes and celebrating their identity through music.
A significant breakthrough came in 2012, when Frank Ocean posted an open letter to Tumblr, describing how he’d fallen for a man when he was 19.
“It was my first love, it changed my life,” he wrote. “There was no escaping, no negotiating with the feeling. No choice.”

via In pop, stars are exploring new sexualities – BBC News

Ilhan Omar: The 9/11 row embroiling the US congresswoman – BBC News

~ mcequality

A Democratic congresswoman says she will not be silenced after facing a barrage of criticism over comments she made about the 9/11 attacks – including from Donald Trump.
The US president tweeted “WE WILL NEVER FORGET” alongside a video showing footage of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks spliced with a speech by Representative Ilhan Omar.
“Some people did something,” she is seen saying, in between footage of planes hitting the Twin Towers and people fleeing the buildings.
Republicans have accused her of downplaying the attacks, but Democrats have largely rallied to her defence, saying she had been quoted out of context and some accusing Mr Trump of inciting violence against her and Muslims. Here is how the row developed.

via Ilhan Omar: The 9/11 row embroiling the US congresswoman – BBC News

Taking back control after sexual abuse – BBC News

~ mcequality

Rape survivors redefining themselves through dance
Kemi and Mojo are two women who want to take back control of their bodies after their sexuality was stolen from them.
They’ve joined one of the “UK’s first plus-size dance classes” to build their confidence and learn to love themselves as they are.
Both women have waived their right to anonymity to talk about their experiences of being raped in the hope of encouraging others to speak out.

via Taking back control after sexual abuse – BBC News

Period poverty: Wales schoolgirls to be given free sanitary products | UK news | The Guardian

~ mcequality

Free sanitary products are to be handed out to tens of thousands of schoolgirls in Wales in a bid to tackle “period poverty”.

As many as 141,000 girls attending both primary and secondary schools in the country will benefit from the free menstrual products as part of the £2.3m scheme, the Welsh government has announced.

The move is part of efforts to combat the period poverty issue, with campaigners highlighting how schoolgirls are forced to miss days at school because they cannot afford the products. Two in five girls have had to rely on using toilet roll to manage their period, one charity’s survey revealed last year. Some were even forced to use socks or newspaper.

via Period poverty: Wales schoolgirls to be given free sanitary products | UK news | The Guardian

‘Consent condoms’ and ‘anti-rape wristbands’: Do they work? – BBC News

~ mcequality

From “consent condoms” in Argentina to anti-date rape wristbands in Germany, products designed to tackle sexual assault have been making headlines around the world.
They are part of a growing industry of self-defence inventions aimed predominantly at women.
Other products include shorts fitted with an alarm; a bracelet that releases a “foul smell” to fend off sexual predators; and several sexual consent apps.
With statistics showing that about one in five women in England and Wales have experienced sexual assault since the age of 16, and similar figures reported elsewhere, the makers of such products argue that they have a vital role to play.
But while they may be “well intentioned”, such products miss the mark, some women’s rights advocates say.

via ‘Consent condoms’ and ‘anti-rape wristbands’: Do they work? – BBC News