Four Canadian privacy commissioners find Clearview AI in violation of Canadian privacy law
A
joint investigation by the federal privacy commissioner and the provincial privacy commissioners of Alberta, British Columbia, and Québec has found US facial recognition company Clearview AI in violation of Canadian privacy law.
The commissioners have called on Clearview to delete all images and biometric facial arrays collected from individuals in Canada. The company, however, has expressly disagreed with the investigation’s findings and has not confirmed that it is willing to do so. The investigation further highlights
clear shortfalls in Canadian privacy law.
Union activity continues within the tech industry, both at local and international levels
Employees at the Bessemer, Alabama Amazon warehouse began a 7-week long
mail-in voting process on Monday: they will decide whether to become the first US-based Amazon warehouse to unionize. Pro-union employees have cited high stress and injury rates, heavy workplace surveillance, and a lack of formal grievance procedures as their primary motives.
Two weeks earlier, Alphabet employees from ten countries around the world
formed an international coalition called Alpha Global. The coalition says it will work across borders “to build a more ethical and accountable company.”
Ford and GM pledges are the latest in a series of EV announcements by vehicle manufacturers
General Motors
announced in late January that it will invest $27 billion US into electric vehicles (EVs) over the next five years, while seeking to make most of its vehicles electric by 2035 and the entire company carbon neutral by 2040. Last week, Ford Motor Company also
announced that it will have spent at least $22 billion US on EVs by 2025.
CBC News recently reported that growing EV sales may create an opportunity for companies in Alberta to produce and supply lithium, which is required for EV batteries. According to one researcher, “some key players have reached the pilot stage with aims to reach an industrial scale process in two to five years.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made headlines twice this week, first for launching a global carbon capture competition, and then for making a big bet on the future of blockchain currency
The Musk Foundation launched a global
carbon capture competition on Monday, which will take place from April 2021 to Earth Day, 2025. Participants will need to find ways to remove gigatons of carbon directly from the world’s atmosphere or oceans while vying for $100 million US in prizes. That same day, Tesla
disclosed in a SEC filing that it had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and announced that it may begin taking payments in bitcoin sometime in the near future. -
Mairead Matthews