Tag:technology
The Future of EV Vehicles: Tesla’s EV Connector Becoming the National Standard
For the first time ever, American automotive company Tesla will open a portion of its U.S. Superchargers and Destination Charger network for non-Tesla electric vehicles (“EVs”)–including 7,500 of its chargers–following an action by the Department of Transportation and Energy. The Department of Transportation and Energy finalized the new standards to make charging EVs more convenient and reliable for consumers. Other companies in the private sector, including Hertz, bp, and General Motors, will also establish a network of chargers using the Tesla charging ports. The Biden-Harris Administration is lending its support for EV standardization, attempting to make Tesla’s charging ports the industry standard for EV charging in America. This new regulatory framework seeks to establish the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Made in America” policies, which include revolutionizing the country’s EV charging network so that the “great American road trip” can be electrified.
Breaching the Last Bastion of the Human Psyche: Neural Data as Biometrics
Earlier this year, the New York Times reported on the proposed Colorado Privacy Act and the impact it would have on neurotechnology which uses “neural data” and already has noteworthy support within programming communities. What the Colorado Privacy Act aims to address are not the labs and medical studies conducted within clinics, but how it may be used within a consumer context. The Colorado Privacy Act does more than Illinois’ pioneer Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA).
The I.R.S. is using AI to Crack Down on Tax Evasion
The Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) issued a press release on September 8, 2023, detailing how the agency plans to use at least part of the $80 million dollar allocation it received from the Inflation Reduction Act last year. I.R.S. Commissioner Danny Werfel plans to use the funds to make compliance enforcement efforts and tax evasion identification more effective and efficient. How does he plan to do this? The overwhelmed and perhaps overworked agency will be using artificial intelligence (AI) programs and features to expedite and assist with redundant processes as well as to audit parties that are too complicated or large for the I.R.S.’s current capabilities.
MSG’s Usage of Facial Recognition Technology Sparks Civil Rights Debate
A woman attempting to chaperone her daughter’s Girl Scout troop on a trip to attend a Rockette’s show at Radio City Music Hall was denied entry based on facial recognition technology. The security subsequently revealed that she was on a list of excluded attorneys as her firm was involved in ongoing litigation against Madison Square Garden (MSG) Entertainment (which owns Radio City Music Hall). this could be one of the consequences of allowing private corporations to use facial recognition technology.
The Role of Regulators During the Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
On March 10th, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed practically overnight, followed only two days later by the collapse of Signature Bank. Prior to its collapse, SVB uniquely served a single category of customers – start-ups. As the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, SVB’s bankruptcy resulted in significant consequences for the tech industry. While SVB has since been acquired by First Citizens BancShares, the House Financial Services Committee is currently seeking answers from both regulators and SVB executives about how such a failure could have occurred and how to prevent it from happening again.
Biden Administration to Knock “Chip” off China’s Shoulders: Proposed Export License Revocation Seeks to Remove Huawei’s Access to the US Market
The Biden administration has considered not only ending all future export licenses between US microchip producers and Huawei, but also revoking existing licenses to sell microchips to the Chinese tech company. This move is just one section of increasing tensions between China and the United States but could have long-reaching consequences for the United States and the global tech market.
Technology Giants Facing Historical BIPA Violations
A settlement has been reached in a $100 million dollar class action lawsuit against Google impacting an estimated 1.4 million Illinois resident users. The order comes as a result of Rivera, et al. v. Google LLC , where users photographs appeared in the storage application service, known as Google Photos, without having acquired proper consent nor provided notice to its users. Google is only one of many technology giants joining trending litigation in violation of the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). While this settlement is one of the largest in Illinois to date, one can expect there to be more class-action lawsuits on the way.
Digital Footprints in the Post-Roe Era
On June 24, the Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade. In doing so, it declared that there was no longer a constitutional right to abortion, allowing state police power to determine its legality. Immediately after this decision, trigger laws went into effect across a quarter of the states, making abortions illegal. Post Dobbs, information collected on personal devices, especially through period-tracking and telemedicine apps, is at risk of being exposed and utilized as criminal evidence.
The Ninth Circuit Rules on Net Neutrality, Putting State Regulations of the Internet from Mozilla v. FCC to the Test
Net neutrality (or network neutrality) is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs), such as Verizon or Comcast, should not be able to block or prioritize different sorts of data. The Ninth Circuit, which is comprised of Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, and Washington state, is the largest Court of Appeals in the United States both in population and land mass. Recently, the Ninth Circuit ruled in a case that net neutrality requirements applied to internet service providers in those states. This decision put to test the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia’s 2019 decision of Mozilla v. FCC, which ruled that states would be able to create regulations regarding net neutrality.
Blacklisting – the Modern Diplomat’s Weapon of Choice
Throughout the end of 2021, the Biden administration intensified its crackdown on civilian organizations believed to be supporting China’s military. As a result, the U.S. Commerce and Treasury departments, acting pursuant to the president’s June 3 Executive Order, recently unleashed a barrage of economic sanctions by effectively blacklisting more than forty Chinese companies, tech firms, and research institutes. Such far-reaching measures have ensnared prominent businesses across a variety of industries, including facial recognition specialists, artificial intelligence companies, and the world’s largest producer of commercial drones, DJI Technology Co. Those targeted were added to either the Commerce Department’s entity list, which blocks trade with U.S. exporters of software and other technologies, or to a Treasury list restricting access to American investment. Placement on the Treasury’s list can be especially damaging to an organization’s financial stability because the agency’s policies not only bar those sanctioned from transacting with domestic businesses but also prohibit American investors from taking stakes in companies on the list. Unsurprisingly, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry quickly denounced the sanctions as an “unwarranted suppression” of Chinese enterprises. Some of the listed companies themselves also publicly criticized their presence on the blacklists, including the artificial-intelligence start-up SenseTime Group which called the accusations against it “unfounded.” U.S. officials, however, defended the decision – citing both national security threats and human rights violations as causes for the sanctions.