[HN Gopher] Lawyers' Committee Opposes New Draft of American Pri...
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       Lawyers' Committee Opposes New Draft of American Privacy Rights Act
        
       Author : rntn
       Score  : 18 points
       Date   : 2024-06-24 20:05 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.lawyerscommittee.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.lawyerscommittee.org)
        
       | idontknowtech wrote:
       | This seems to be the crux of their argument, and I find it
       | convincing:
       | 
       | > Passing comprehensive privacy legislation would be a major
       | public good-but APRA no longer can be called comprehensive. Civil
       | rights guardrails are essential for consumer trust in a system
       | that allows companies to collect and use personal data without
       | consent. The new draft strips out anti-discrimination
       | protections, AI impact assessment requirements, and the ability
       | to opt-out of AI decision-making for major economic opportunities
       | like housing and credit. We cannot abide a regime that would
       | perpetuate, in the words of Dr. Ruha Benjamin, a form of 'Jim
       | Code': 'the employment of new technologies that reflect and
       | reproduce existing inequities.'
        
         | blackeyeblitzar wrote:
         | I don't find it convincing at all. Why do privacy protections
         | need to be coupled to anti discrimination language? Pass them
         | as a separate bill, and start with blanket protections on
         | privacy, explicit consent, a ban on data brokers who operate
         | without end user consent, and transparency around how data is
         | obtained. This just looks like an uncontroversial and obvious
         | good (privacy) is being bogged down with politically loaded
         | riders.
        
           | karmajunkie wrote:
           | FTA:
           | 
           | > The new draft of APRA also creates a massive loophole for
           | personal data collected and used on an individual's device.
           | Tech companies would be able to do almost anything they want
           | with data that stays on a personal device-no data
           | minimization rules, no protections for kids, no advertising
           | limits, no transparency requirements, no civil rights
           | safeguards, and no right to sue for injured consumers. As AI
           | and computing become more powerful, allowing more processing
           | to occur on a device, this loophole will grow. As a result,
           | this draft of APRA is weaker than state laws it is
           | preempting.
           | 
           | That hardly amounts to an uncontroversial and obvious good--I
           | would say regardless of your feelings on the anti
           | discrimination provisions that it should be the
           | uncontroversial to reject this legislation.
        
       | flax wrote:
       | While I agree with their aim and their reasoning on this bill
       | with regard to the fact that it has been unacceptably weakened, I
       | take issue with this quote:
       | 
       | "the core purpose of privacy: to ensure that who we are cannot be
       | used against us unfairly."
       | 
       | No. Privacy is an end in itself. It is a human right. Falling
       | back to economic justifications weakens the foundation of
       | fighting for privacy.
        
         | MisterBastahrd wrote:
         | They're the exact same thing. There's no point to privacy if
         | there's no reason for having it. Simply declaring it a human
         | right is worthless if you can't justify why it is one.
        
           | marshray wrote:
           | Must we justify the right to a speedy trial by the argument
           | that indefinite detention would unfairly limit our ability to
           | obtain an auto loan?
        
             | MisterBastahrd wrote:
             | If you can't figure out why indefinite detainment after an
             | arrest is bad, I'm afraid that nobody is going to be able
             | to help you.
        
         | digging wrote:
         | How is that an economic justification? It's about safety and
         | consent as much as economics.
        
         | throwway120385 wrote:
         | Yeah -- if I don't want to be known to another person I
         | shouldn't have to be regardless of whether that person derives
         | a benefit from knowing me. This is what it means to innately
         | have a right like liberty or privacy. There is no grounds
         | whatsoever for taking it away, and nobody has granted it to you
         | on any grounds whether economic or moral.
        
         | pessimizer wrote:
         | > "the core purpose of privacy: to ensure that who we are
         | cannot be used against us unfairly."
         | 
         | I don't see even the vaguest mention of economics in this
         | quote. Copy-paste fail?
        
       | claytongulick wrote:
       | Is this a case of perfect being the enemy of good?
       | 
       | I don't know anything about the legislation, but the linked
       | article's main complaint seems to be that anti discrimination
       | language was removed from the bill. Ok. I don't understand all
       | the issues involved with that, or what that language was.
       | 
       | Regardless, is it still good without that? Does it increase our
       | privacy rights? Why not move the needle in the right direction
       | and then lobby for additional things?
        
         | throwway120385 wrote:
         | Anti-discrimination is the meat of this. We shouldn't allow
         | opaque AI systems to be used as justification for
         | discriminatory actions. Without anti-discrimination they will
         | certainly be used in this way.
        
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       (page generated 2024-06-24 23:00 UTC)