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MAY NEWSLETTER  

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The EU AI Act Advances

Last week saw a major step forward for the EU’s proposed Artificial Intelligence Act.

Two key committees in the European Parliament finally advanced the proposal, which is now expected to be voted on by the full Parliament on June 16. If it is approved, the text will move into trilogue negotiations between the European Parliament, Council of the European Union, and European Commission to reach a final deal.

CDT’s Brussels office has been actively involved in AI Act negotiations, and they explained the recent changes and issues at stake ([link removed]). Key changes during the Committee process:

Expanded the list of prohibited AI practices, to include the use of emotion recognition systems in the fields of law enforcement, border management, employment, and education, and the deployment of AI systems for mass scraping of social media or CCTV footage to feed into facial recognition databases;

Expanded the list of “high-risk” practices to include recommender systems for user-generated content used by social media platforms that are Very Large Online Platforms under the EU’s Digital Services Act;

Expanded the ban on biometric identification deployed in public spaces;

Agreed on general principles applicable to all AI systems — a set of non-binding principles that will have to be incorporated into technical standards, and  which include human agency and oversight, privacy and data governance, non-discrimination and fairness;

Clarified a right to explanation for individuals when an AI-driven decision produces legal effects, or has an impact on an individual’s health, safety, fundamental rights, or socio-economic well-being; 

Introduced the possibility of upgrading the AI Office to an agency to help support enforcement, an option that is not yet feasible given the EU’s existing budget ([link removed]).

Notably, the negotiating team was also able to finalize its proposed three-layered approach to “powerful models" ([link removed]), namely general-purpose AI systems, foundation models, and generative AI. The legislation sets forth varying obligations for developers of these tools (and, in some instances, downstream operators), with a focus on health, safety, and fundamental rights.

As the Parliament finishes its initial work on the text and all eyes turn to the EU Council, CDT Europe is convening stakeholders and meeting with Member States. To receive regular updates, sign up for CDT’s EU AI Policy Bulletin here ([link removed]).

Reducing the Risks of Bluetooth Location Tracker Misuse

CDT celebrated earlier this month when Apple and Google jointly released a standards proposal to help combat the dangers of Bluetooth tracking devices, which can be used to monitor people without their knowledge and consent. CDT has partnered with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) to call for just such an effort, which would help ensure that stalking victims can receive notifications that an unknown tracker is traveling with them, regardless of their mobile device.

CDT President and CEO ([link removed]) Alexandra Reeve Givens said, “The announcement of draft best practices and protocols to detect unknown trackers is a welcome step; it promises to make these devices more detectable and reduce the likelihood that they will be used to track people without their knowledge. A key element to reducing misuse is a universal, platform-level solution that is able to detect trackers made by different companies on the variety of smartphones that people use every day.”

The proposal embraces a number of components that CDT and NNEDV have named as key to providing greater protection ([link removed]) from unwanted surveillance, and is a critical first step towards the adoption of an industry-wide standard to reduce the risks of Bluetooth location tracker misuse.

In Case You Missed It

— CDT welcomed the Supreme Court decisions in Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google ([link removed]).

— CDT and a coalition of 132 civil society organizations urged Senators to oppose the EARN IT Act ([link removed]) of 2023, which — like the bill by the same name under consideration in years past — threatens free expression, the ability of internet users to access encrypted services, and protections against child abuse.

— Last week, CDT filed a joint amicus brief in the case United States v. Hay ([link removed]) in partnership with the ACLU, the Brennan Center, and the Electronic Information Privacy Center. We argue that permitting invasive, continuous video surveillance absent a warrant gives the government excess power to monitor and stockpile details about the intimate details of individuals’ lives, upending the balance between a government and its citizens in a way that is incompatible with a democratic society.

— In a blog post, CDT welcomed efforts by the Biden Administration ([link removed]) to take a closer look at the potentially harmful effects of electronic surveillance, artificial intelligence, and automated decision-making systems in the workplace. We also welcomed new guidance by the EEOC ([link removed]) cautioning that AI hiring systems may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act; guidance we had long urged it to give.

—  On World Press Freedom Day, CDT joined over 40+ other civil society organizations in an open letter calling on democratic governments ([link removed]) to publicly pledge their support for protecting encryption, and refrain from blocking access to encrypted communication services. We also joined numerous local and global digital rights organizations in urging the Indian government to withdraw amendments ([link removed]) to the country’s IT Rules, which create a government fact-checking unit with the power to deem media coverage fake, false, or misleading, and ultimately order removal of such content.

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Photograph of Samir Jain; man wearing a navy blazer and a white button up shirt.

CDT in the Press

–  CDT Vice President of Policy Samir Jain spoke with CNN about the Supreme Court’s decisions in Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google ([link removed]): “I think the court recognized the importance of these platforms for billions of people for communicating, and stepped back from interfering with that.” Read CDT’s statement on the cases here ([link removed]).

— In a video interview about efforts to regulate AI ([link removed]), CDT President and CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens told COX Media, “Right now, if I’m applying for a job, I don’t know if an AI tool is screening my application and if it might be discriminating against me in the first place. So, there’s a lot Congress can do to mandate transparency about when these tools are being used, about how they work.”

— Discussing possible renewal of warrantless surveillance ([link removed]) authority Section 702 with The Register, CDT’s Jake Laperruque said, "It's still a very bad thing in desperate need of reform. We're still talking about hundreds of thousands of searches for Americans' private wireless data."

— Samir Jain spoke with The Washington Post ([link removed]) about Utah’s new social media law: “There are lots of different ways that these laws are imposing de facto or implicit age-verification requirements,” he said.

CDT "in Person"

— Can large language models analyze non-English content? On Wednesday, May 24th, we’ll do a deep dive into this question, as well as how multilingual language models work, how they can be improved, and what’s at stake when they fall short. Learn more and register at our event page ([link removed]).

— CDT hosted an event with Democracy to celebrate our partnership on a symposium volume, A Democratic Digital Age ([link removed])? In a wide-ranging conversation, CDT’s Alexandra Givens spoke about her opening essay with contributors Tom Wheeler, Claire Wardle and Suresh Venkatasubramanian, moderated by Issie Lapowsky. The recording is available online ([link removed]).

— Earlier this month, CDT Europe’s Asha Allen joined the Strategic Technologies Program at CSIS for a conversation on how governments, technology platforms, civil society, and individuals can address the spread of online gender-based disinformation and harassment. Learn more and find the recording on our event page ([link removed]).

Partner Spotlight
CDT is proud to partner with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) on personal privacy issues, including work to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth location-tracking devices for unwanted tracking.

NNEDV is a social change organization dedicated to creating a social, political, and economic environment in which violence against women no longer exists. One of NNEDV’s signature projects, Safety Net, focuses on the intersection of technology and abuse and works to address how it impacts the safety, privacy, accessibility, and civil rights of victims of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. You can learn more about the organization and their important work at nnedv.org ([link removed]) and techsafety.org ([link removed]).

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Photograph of Jacob Kauffman; man wearing a blue and navy check button up shirt.

Staff Spotlight
Jacob Kauffman ([link removed]), System Administrator and Web Technician

How long have you been working in digital rights? Since the beginning of this past April when I started work here at CDT.

What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? I'm rather new to CDT so I'm not sure if I have much to express pride in just yet. But, silly as it sounds, I did successfully get Debian 11 and MacOS to successfully dual-boot on a CDT researcher's computer. Which doesn't sound super exciting, but I did quietly celebrate when I was able to get the wifi working on the Linux side.

What is the best book you’ve read recently? This is a tough question! In terms of genre my reading habits are kind of all over the place, so it's hard to nail down one recent book as the "best." 

I did recently read through the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time, and it was interesting to see where the text departs from the films. You definitely lose how much Tolkien was into the poetry and songs of antiquity in the movies, as the books indulge in page upon page of epic prose and song.

I also just finished a fantastic history of World War I called A World Undone by G. J. Meyer. The author does a very good job of tying the various disparate events of that tragic period together into a cohesive, understandable, and fascinating narrative.

Cats or dogs? Since I have a slight cat allergy, I must say dogs; however, I have a soft spot for all animals, possibly inherited from mom. There was a time, growing up when my family had one cat, two dogs, a rabbit, two chickens, a beta fish, and three turtles.

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