But meanwhile "more than 70 people who bought, used or were recorded with Meta's smart glasses have sued the social media giant," reports the Los Angeles Times, "claiming their intimate and sensitive images were exposed to workers abroad who are paid to review and label photos and videos."
The contractors in Kenya work for companies that help train Meta's artificial intelligence, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit amended in late August. The smart glasses users, some in California, allege the gadget captured footage of themselves and family members undressing, going to the bathroom, having sex and entering passwords. In some cases, the people said they weren't aware the camera-equipped glasses were recording. One California user, referred to as PL18 in the lawsuit, alleges his glasses were unknowingly recording after he placed the smart glasses on the bathroom counter. "He noticed that at times photos of his family members using the bathroom and bathing began appearing in his gallery — footage no one in his household intended to take," the lawsuit said....
The 230-page lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Northern California, accuses Meta of fraud and false advertising, along with violating other consumer protection laws in various states. Tina Wolfson, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said the case also centers on Meta's surveillance of people's lives without their consent and the exploitation of their image and likeness. "People who bought these glasses and thought that they were cool gadgets weren't aware that every time they activated AI, video was sent to train Meta's AI," said Wolfson, a principal at law firm Ahdoot & Wolfson in Burbank. Meta disagrees with the allegations and intends to fight them.
"If you use Meta AI, we may review that data to help improve our products and people's experiences — this works the same way as many other companies. We take steps to filter this data to help remove identifying information and to protect people's privacy," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement...
The lawsuit alleges people wearing the smart glasses were unwittingly transmitting data to Meta whenever they used Meta AI by saying "Hey Meta," or sometimes accidentally when adjusting the glasses. "Every activation of the AI features, intentional or accidental, captures video and audio that is transmitted to Meta's servers, routed overseas, and reviewed by low-paid human workers who watch, label, and embed these moments into Meta's AI models," the lawsuit said...
The lawsuit also seeks to block Meta from deploying biometric tools through its glasses. The company has been exploring a controversial feature called "NameTag" that would allow people to identify others... A separate lawsuit, filed in September in a federal court in Illinois, alleges Meta has been using images of people's faces uploaded to their public Facebook and Instagram accounts to train AI that powers NameTag and other AI tools.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Knabbel en Babbel zijn terug en wel met EPISODE 7, die zoals altijd volledig te beluisteren is onderaan dit topic voor de GeenStijl Premium Leden (en dat kost dus slechts 5 euro per maand).
Ditmaal buigt het meest diverse presentatieduo van Nederland zich over man van het uur Ed Sheeran en de pro-Palestijnse cancelmob waar hij deze week een groots mea culpa voor moest maken. Zijn band en alle openingsacts liepen bij hem weg, maar Sheeran bleef overeind. Maakte hij een laffe knieval of is de rooie troubadour juist een dappere held der nuance? VERDER maken we ons woest over AI-Robot Jetten, een schandaal dat veel verder gaat dan een paar ministers die de AI-regeltjes van de Rijksoverheid niet helemaal respecteren. Over AI gesproken; de grote AI-bazen van de Verenigde Staten SMEKEN de regering-Trump om gereguleerd te worden, iets met het voorkomen van de totale vernietiging van de mensheid of zoiets. Tenslotte passeren feministisch icoon Sydney Sweeney en mooie lul Camiel Eurlings nog even de revue. Een bom-, bom-, BOMVOLLE aflevering van ruim 100 minuten. Gaat dat zien.
LUISTER OOK VIA JE FAVORIETE PODCAST-APP!
DEN HAAG (ANP) - De Kinderombudsvrouw herkent "helaas" de signalen van de Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid over de slechte situatie van kinderen in asielnoodopvang "maar al te goed", zegt een woordvoerder. "Al jaren komen er bij de Kinderombudsvrouw signalen binnen over slechte omstandigheden voor kinderen in de asielopvang: onderbroken onderwijs, gebrekkige hygiëne, onveiligheid en locaties die niet geschikt zijn voor kinderen."
In 2023 schreef de Kinderombudsvrouw samen met de Nationale ombudsman in een rapport dat "de waardigheid van volwassenen en kinderen ernstig onder druk staat in de crisisnoodopvang". Twee jaar later schreef zij aan de Tweede Kamer dat de situatie van asielkinderen dringend verbeterd moest worden.
Ook het Rode Kruis zegt het beeld dat de OVV beschrijft in zijn rapport te herkennen. De organisatie zegt regelmatig bij de rijksoverheid te hebben aangegeven dat noodopvang "in principe ongeschikt is voor kinderen".
JOHANNESBURG (ANP) - Drie personen in Zuid-Afrika zijn gearresteerd in verband met de moord op een vrouw in Johannesburg, meldt de BBC. Het gaat om een man en twee vrouwen. De drie verdachten moeten deze maandag voor de rechter verschijnen.
Ze worden verdacht van de moord op Jubulile Ntimba. Haar lichaam werd afgelopen donderdag, gedeeltelijk naakt, in een park gevonden volgens de BBC. Het is de negende vrouw die in de afgelopen twee maanden is gevonden in Ekurhuleni, een stedelijk gebied in Johannesburg. Meerdere vrouwen hadden verwondingen en waren maar gedeeltelijk aangekleed. Toch meldt de politie dat nog niet vaststaat of alle moorden met elkaar samenhangen.
De moorden hebben vooral onder vrouwen angst in de regio veroorzaakt. Zuid-Afrika heeft een van de hoogste percentages gendergerelateerd geweld ter wereld. Volgens de VN-organisatie die zich met vrouwenrechten bezighoudt, is het aantal vrouwen dat in Zuid-Afrika wordt vermoord vijf keer zo hoog als het wereldwijde gemiddelde.
DEN HAAG (ANP) - Het is "heftig" dat jongeren negatiever zijn gaan denken over homoseksualiteit, vindt staatssecretaris Judith Tielen (Onderwijs en Emancipatie). Naar aanleiding van een rapport hierover van het Trimbos-instituut en de Universiteit Utrecht laat ze weten dat ze werkt aan maatregelen. Zo overweegt de VVD-bewindsvrouw scholen die meer hulp nodig hebben met het vergroten van de lhbti-acceptatie extra te ondersteunen.
Tielen vindt het "belangrijk dat alle jongeren veilig zichzelf kunnen zijn en dat ze goed in hun vel zitten". Ze wijst erop dat scholen al veel doen op dit vlak. "Docenten stellen grenzen, normeren en gaan gesprekken aan in de klas." Ook leren scholieren desinformatie op internet te herkennen en zijn scholen verplicht diversiteit bespreekbaar te maken.
Behalve het extra ondersteunen van scholen overweegt Tielen om te investeren in de deskundigheid van docenten en jeugdwerkers. Ze wil de Tweede Kamer dit najaar informeren over de maatregelen.
BRUSSEL (ANP/RTR/AFP) - De Ierse privacytoezichthouder heeft Google een boete van 403 miljoen euro opgelegd vanwege het schenden van de regels voor locatiegegevens van gebruikers. De waakhond in Ierland treedt op namens de Europese Unie, omdat het Europese hoofdkantoor van het techconcern in dat land is gevestigd.
In When America Roared, Pulitzer-winning reporter Jonathan Kaufman looks back to a decade of greed and excess, and uses it to explore where we are today
Donald Trump is “so much a creature of the 80s but even in the 80s, everyone made fun of him,” Jonathan Kaufman said. General Electric CEO Jack Welch, “the most prominent business figure in the country, maybe in the world, mocked him. No one took him seriously.
“Even today, if you look at the [White House] ballroom, you look at all the things he’s doing, it’s this 1980s aesthetic, right? You can just see the way he looks at the world: the glitz, the cheapness, the gold brocade everywhere. That screams 1980s. All he needs is big hair and leg warmers and listening to, I don’t know, synthetic pop, and he’d be right back in 1985.”
Continue reading...The rugged roads and lush vegetation of southern Portugal are showcased in this weaving-together of disparate threads of history and landscape
In a sea of doomsday ecological documentaries, Maureen Fazendeiro’s pastoral marvel is a sight for sore eyes. A solo debut feature for the Lisbon-based French director, this hybrid film studies the historical and geographical contours of Alentejo, a rural region in southern Portugal. The opening is set to a jaunty soundtrack of energetic percussion beats and twinkling organ notes, taking in the resplendent vistas of the landscape, with its rugged roads and lush vegetation. We see, too, a small archaeological tool hunt for ancient relics beneath layers of golden dust. Mirroring these acts of care and attention, Fazendeiro’s film takes the form of a cinematic excavation, fusing present-day tableaux with archival materials, folkloric legends with historical records.
The abundant use of tracking shots not only takes in the wondrous biodiversity of Alentejo but also facilitates a fluid movement between separate epochs. Observational scenes of green hills, boundless blue skies and roaming livestock are overlaid with narrated excerpts from second world war-era letters written by German archaeologists Georg and Vera Leisner. Credited with producing the first inventory of megalithic monuments in Alentejo, the pair imbues their wartime correspondence with the joy of discovery and the sadness of exile.
Continue reading...Trump’s mess has rekindled Yemen’s civil war and a years-long conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia
When the US and Israel launched a war of aggression against Iran in late February, Tehran’s allies in the Middle East jumped into the fray. Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia fired rockets at Israel, while Shia militias in Iraq attacked US bases and diplomatic outposts. But the Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, mostly stayed on the sidelines.
Over the past few weeks, however, the Houthis have changed their tactics and have entered the conflict in full force. They led a rapid advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, seizing a strategic port city and several islands that gave the militia control over the Bab al-Mandab strait, a vital waterway for energy shipments and other global trade. Thanks to Donald Trump’s war, Iran and its allies now dominate the Middle East’s two major regional energy chokepoints: Bab al-Mandab and the strait of Hormuz.
Continue reading...When my husband and I adopted her, Bud had to go on a strict diet. Thankfully, she got healthy and became the diva everyone loves today
Bud came into my life at the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020. I work at RSPCA Norwich as head of animal welfare and, when we all had to work from home, I offered to foster Bud, a blue-fronted amazon parrot. My husband and I thought it would be a short-term thing, but by the time the pandemic had settled down we had really bonded with her, so she never left.
Back then, Bud had a crisp addiction and was too overweight to fly. She was about 200g heavier than a parrot should be. We had to put her on a strict diet because she had some health concerns – we found a lipoma, a fatty lump, on her keel bone (which runs down from the breast); it doesn’t bother her, but we still have to monitor it. Thankfully, she has lost weight; her feathers are all better quality and she loves her life.
Continue reading...
peaceful-jp-scenery has added a photo to the pool:
Aizu Festival
会津まつり・提灯行列
On the night of the first day, small Nebuta floats also appeared during the lantern procession.
初日の夜、提灯行列では小型のねぶたもやって来ました。
Aizuwakamatsu city, Fukushima pref, Japan
peaceful-jp-scenery posted a photo:
Aizu Festival
会津まつり・提灯行列
On the night of the first day, small Nebuta floats also appeared during the lantern procession.
初日の夜、提灯行列では小型のねぶたもやって来ました。
Aizuwakamatsu city, Fukushima pref, Japan
peaceful-jp-scenery posted a photo:
Aizu Festival
会津まつり
Tsuruga Castle was initially illuminated in blue, but yellow light was added partway through, creating this gradient effect.
ライトアップされた鶴ヶ城は、始めブルーだったのですが、途中から黄色の光も加わってこのようなグラデーションになりました。
Aizuwakamatsu city, Fukushima pref, Japan
