AI & data protection

“Move Fast and Break Things”: Law, Technology, and the Problem of Speed

Since computers entered into the mainstream in the 1960s, the efficiency with which data could be processed has raised regulatory questions. This is well understood with respect to privacy. Data that was notionally public — divorce proceedings, say — were long protected through the ‘practical obscurity’ of paper records. When such material was available in […] more…

Facing Up to Facial Surveillance

The benefits of facial recognition technology are that it offers a quick, non-invasive means of identifying people. Those are also its dangers. Last month it was reported that facial recognition will be used to take attendance in Singapore’s Parliament and check into certain hotels. The latest phones already unlock with Face ID and many buildings — […] more…

Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Autonomy

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are routinely said to operate autonomously, exposing gaps in regulatory regimes that assume the centrality of human actors. Yet surprisingly little attention is given to precisely what is meant by “autonomy” and its relationship to those gaps. Driverless vehicles and autonomous weapon systems are the most widely studied examples, but related […] more…

We, the Robots?

As computers surpass human intelligence and take on greater responsibilities, should they be given rights also? Earlier this month, the Bank of England announced that Alan Turing would be featured on the new fifty pound note. The last to switch from paper to polymer, it is due to enter circulation in late 2021. Turing […] more…

Should We Regulate A.I.? Can We?

Artificial intelligence is viewed by many as the defining technology of the 21st century. But how can we ensure that its benefits outweigh the potential risks? This week marked a grim anniversary of sorts for artificial intelligence (AI). On a Sunday night this time last year, Elaine Herzberg stepped off an ornamental median strip […] more…

Singapore’s Biggest Ever Data Breach May Give Privacy New Life

Reports of the death of privacy are greatly exaggerated. This might seem an odd opening line, with Singapore still reeling from its worst ever data breach, in which the personal details of 1.5 million people were stolen from SingHealth. But as the country realigns its economy and its public institutions to take advantage of the […] more…

Data Protection Law in Singapore (2nd edition)

The adoption of the Personal Data Protection Act transformed the legal regime for data protection in Singapore. This book explains the history and evolution of data protection in Singapore, highlights issues that are being worked out in practice, and derives lessons that Singapore can learn from other jurisdictions – and that other jurisdictions can learn […] more…

Privacy and Our Digital Selves

By October, the lamp posts on Singapore’s Orchard Road and in selected housing estates will be doing more than just illuminating the street. With cameras and other sensors they will capture real-time information on traffic flow, the environment, pedestrian movement — and, potentially, security threats. In his National Day Rally last month, Prime Minister Lee […] more…

Do Driverless Cars Dream of Electric Sheep?

Autonomous vehicles offer the prospect of safer and cheaper transportation of people and goods. But as Singapore sees the first driverless taxis take to the roads, technology has raced ahead of our laws — and our morals. Last week, the world’s first driverless taxi service began picking up passengers on Singapore’s roads. It is a […] more…

Digital Security: You Are the Weakest Link

Singapore’s decision to cut Internet access from 100,000 public servants accepts the reality: the greatest vulnerability in any network is the people who use it. “The only truly secure system,” Professor Gene Spafford observed of computers in 1989, “is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed in a […] more…

Law 2.0

In a world in which data and money no longer respect national borders, can law keep ahead of technological innovation? It can’t — and it shouldn’t. On 26 February 2015, the US Federal Communications Commission voted, 3-2, to reclassify broadband as a public utility. Regulators in the United States can now prevent Internet service providers (ISPs) from […] more…

Protecting and Sharing Personal Data

By the time Singapore’s Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry came into effect earlier this month, more than 400,000 numbers had already been entered online, by SMS, and by phone. Many Singaporeans, it is clear, are not particularly interested in unsolicited offers of investment advice, “exclusive” property offers, and so on. But the reaction to the last minute […] more…

Data Protection Law in Singapore: Privacy and Sovereignty in an Interconnected World

The adoption of the Personal Data Protection Act has transformed the legal regime for data protection in Singapore. This book explains the history and evolution of data protection in Singapore, highlights issues that will need to be worked out in practice as the new law is implemented, and derives lessons that may be taken from […] more…

A Chat Room of One’s Own

The Internet has had a greater impact on access to information than any development in human history, with the possible exception of the invention of writing. We are more connected and better informed than ever before. So why does it often feel like what takes place on the Internet is so dumb? Two thousand years […] more…

After Privacy: The Rise of Facebook, The Fall of WikiLeaks, and Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act 2012

This article discusses the changing ways in which information is produced, stored, and shared—exemplified by the rise of social-networking sites like Facebook and controversies over the activities of WikiLeaks—and the implications for privacy and data protection. Legal protections of privacy have always been reactive, but the coherence of any legal regime has also been undermined […] more…

How Best to Protect Kids Online

How many “friends” does your child have online? Who reads her blog or sees the pictures she uploads? And what survey forms is she filling in to win a chance at a prize? Some parents will know some of the answers to some of these questions. But it is highly unlikely that any parents would […] more…

Who Killed Privacy?

It is more than a decade since the former CEO of Sun Microsystems infamously declared that privacy was dead, urging the reporters who had asked him about the subject to “get over it”. That was before the launch of Facebook, Google’s Street View, the iPhone, and a proliferation of other tools that many saw as […] more…

SSRN

REVISION: 'Move Fast and Break Things': Law, Technology, and the Problem of Speed
Since computers entered into the mainstream in the 1960s, the efficiency with which data could be processed has raised regulatory questions. This is well understood with respect to privacy. Data that was notionally public — divorce proceedings, say — were long protected through the ‘practical obscurity’ of paper records. When such material was available in […]
REVISION: 'Move Fast and Break Things': Law, Technology, and the Problem of Speed
Since computers entered into the mainstream in the 1960s, the efficiency with which data could be processed has raised regulatory questions. This is well understood with respect to privacy. Data that was notionally public — divorce proceedings, say — were long protected through the ‘practical obscurity’ of paper records. When such material was available in […]
REVISION: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Autonomy
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are routinely said to operate autonomously, exposing gaps in regulatory regimes that assume the centrality of human actors. Yet surprisingly little attention is given to precisely what is meant by “autonomy” and its relationship to those gaps. Driverless vehicles and autonomous weapon systems are the most widely studied examples, but related […]
New: Facing Up to Facial Surveillance
The use of biometrics for security — relying on the uniqueness of your face, fingerprint, or iris — offers the prospect of a world without passwords to remember or identity cards to show. Facial recognition in particular is fast, contactless, and able to identify multiple people at the same time. These benefits could smooth movement […]
REVISION: International Law and Its Others
If the rule of law means anything, it is that the law is meant to apply equally to all regardless of the vacillations of power. This is the founding myth of law at the national level — famously forbidding the rich as well as the poor from sleeping under the bridges of Paris at night. […]
New: The Law and Practice of the United Nations (2nd Ed.)
Law and Practice of the United Nations: Documents and Commentary combines primary materials with expert commentary demonstrating the interaction between law and practice in the UN organization, as well as the possibilities and limitations of multilateral institutions in general. Each chapter begins with a short introductory essay describing how the documents that ensue illustrate a […]
REVISION: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Autonomy
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are routinely said to operate autonomously, exposing gaps in regulatory regimes that assume the centrality of human actors. Yet surprisingly little attention is given to precisely what is meant by “autonomy” and its relationship to those gaps. Driverless vehicles and autonomous weapon systems are the most widely studied examples, but related […]
New: The Oxford Handbook of International Law in Asia and the Pacific (Introduction)
The growing economic and political significance of Asia has exposed a tension in the modern international order. Despite expanding power and influence, Asian states have played a minimal role in creating the norms and institutions of international law; today they are the least likely to be parties to international agreements or to be represented in […]
New: We, the Robots?
As computers surpass human intelligence and take on greater responsibilities, should they be given rights also? This essay considers the evolution of the Turing Test for machine intelligence and its relationship to ongoing debates about legal personality and artificial intelligence.
New: The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Treaties (Introduction)
The United Nations is a vital part of the international order. Yet this book argues that the greatest contribution of the UN is not what it has achieved (improvements in health and economic development, for example) or avoided (global war, say, or the use of weapons of mass destruction). It is, instead, the process through […]