Tag: law

紐約時報的 The Privacy Project 分析了這二十年來 Google 的隱私條款

紐約時報的 The Privacy Project 分析了 Google 在這二十年來的 Privacy Policy (英文版)，可以看出網路廣告產業的變化，以及為什麼變得極力蒐集個資與使用者行為：「Google’s 4,000-Word Privacy Policy Is a Secret History of the Internet」。整篇看起來有點長，可以先看裡面的小標題，然後看一下列出來的條文差異，把不同時間的重點都列出來了。

最早期的轉變是「針對性」：

1999-2004
No longer talks about users ‘in aggregate’

1999 年的版本強調了整體性，後來因為針對性廣告而被拿掉：

1999
Google may share information about users with advertisers, business partners, sponsors, and other third parties. However, we only talk about our users in aggregate, not as individuals. For example, we may disclose how frequently the average Google user visits Google, or which other query words are most often used with the query word "Microsoft."

接下來的是蒐集的項目大幅增加，讓分析更準確：

2005-2011
Google shares more data for better targeting

然後是更多產品線互相使用使用者行為資訊：

2012-2017
Its complicated business requires a more complicated policy

接下來是因為法規而配合修改條文 (最有名的就是 GDPR)：

2018-PRESENT
Policy adjusts to meet stricter regulation

美國政府對於書面文字的要求

好像是在 Twitter 上看到的，但一時間找不到是誰推的...

美國在 2010 年簽署的「Plain Writing Act of 2010」要求各種政府文件都必須用簡單的文字書寫，甚至還弄一個官方網站「Home | plainlanguage.gov」列出說明...

在網站裡面的「Use simple words and phrases」給了一個蠻長對應表，可以將一些艱澀的法律慣用詞彙換成平常常用的詞彙...

維基百科給的 Before & After 範例還蠻不錯的，在比較極端的情況下，讀起來的確輕鬆很多：

(Before) The amount of expenses reimbursed to a claimant under this subpart shall be reduced by any amount that the claimant receives from a collateral source. In cases in which a claimant receives reimbursement under this subpart for expenses that also will or may be reimbursed from another source, the claimant shall subrogate the United States to the claim for payment from the collateral source up to the amount for which the claimant was reimbursed under this subpart.

(After) If you get a payment from a collateral source, we will reduce our payment by the amount you get. If you get payments from us and from a collateral source for the same expenses, you must pay us back the amount we paid you.

AI 版的星海爭霸二將直接透過歐洲區的 Battle.net 匿名與人類對戰

前幾天 Blizzard 公佈的消息，DeepMind 的星海爭霸二 AI (AlphaStar) 將會透過 Blizzard 的 Battle.net 歐洲區伺服器跟人類對戰：「DeepMind Research on Ladder」。

Experimental versions of DeepMind’s StarCraft II agent, AlphaStar, will soon play a small number of games on the competitive ladder in Europe as part of ongoing research into AI.

預設是不會對到的，需要選擇參與：

If you would like the chance to help DeepMind with its research by matching against AlphaStar, you can opt in by clicking the “opt-in” button on the in-game popup window. You can alter your opt-in selection at any time by using the “DeepMind opt-in” button on the 1v1 Versus menu.

但你仍然不會知道對手是人還是 AI，而且如同一般對戰情況，這會影響到你的戰績：

For scientific test purposes, DeepMind will be benchmarking AlphaStar’s performance by playing anonymously during a series of blind trial matches. This means the StarCraft community will not know which matches AlphaStar is playing, to help ensure that all games are played under the same conditions. AlphaStar plays with built-in restrictions that the DeepMind team has defined in consultation with pro players. A win or a loss against AlphaStar will affect your MMR as normal.

okay，這樣大概知道為什麼只開放歐洲區了...

加州從今年七月開始，禁止 AI 偽裝成人類 (前幾天也有一些新聞在報導)：「A California law now means chatbots have to disclose they’re not human」，對應的法條在「Bill Text - SB-1001 Bots: disclosure」這邊可以看到：

17941. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to use a bot to communicate or interact with another person in California online, with the intent to mislead the other person about its artificial identity for the purpose of knowingly deceiving the person about the content of the communication in order to incentivize a purchase or sale of goods or services in a commercial transaction or to influence a vote in an election. A person using a bot shall not be liable under this section if the person discloses that it is a bot.

(b) The disclosure required by this section shall be clear, conspicuous, and reasonably designed to inform persons with whom the bot communicates or interacts that it is a bot.

而加州是 Blizzard Entertainment 的總部...

法條上面對「online platform」有設計排除條款，不過如果只算星海二的人數，有可能不到這個豁免限制... 所以得避開而改用歐洲區來測試？

(c) “Online platform” means any public-facing Internet Web site, Web application, or digital application, including a social network or publication, that has 10,000,000 or more unique monthly United States visitors or users for a majority of months during the preceding 12 months.

(c) This chapter does not impose a duty on service providers of online platforms, including, but not limited to, Web hosting and Internet service providers.

美國軍方應該是超級關注這個議題，相較於 AlphaGo 或是 AlphaZero 是資訊完全透明的遊戲，這次要踏入非對稱資訊的遊戲。

如果在這個領域上有成果的話，可以預期未來的戰爭 (yeah 實體戰爭) 會開始大量採用 AI 了...

針對 JavaScript 時代調整網頁的效能評估指標

早期網頁的效能評估指標都沒有考慮 JavaScript 的情況，大多都是 TTFB (Time to First Byte) 或是網頁大小以及 DOMContentLoaded 或是 load 這類 DOM event 為主，但因為 Goodhart's law，現代的網頁設計會故意將許多 JavaScript 要做的事情搬到 load 以後開始做，以降低 load 被延遲的問題，讓前端的「KPI」比較好看：

When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.

但在 load 之後整個網站還是不能用，使用者的體驗其實很差，這個評估方式的價值變低不少。所以「Measuring Jank and UX」這篇就再找出一些新的指標，來評估 JavaScript 造成的問題。

可以看到文章裡面評估了很多關於 CPU loading 與操作時間的指標，也許這一兩年還會有用，不過我覺得還是會遇到 Goodhart's law 描述的問題... XD

一堆軟體工程的定律...

看到「Famous Laws Of Software Development」這篇文章，2017 年的整理，裡面包括了很多軟體工程上的定律：

  • Murphy's Law
  • Brook's Law
  • Hofstadter's Law
  • Conway's Law
  • Postel's Law
  • Pareto Principle
  • The Peter Principle
  • Kerchkhoff's Principle
  • Linus's Law
  • Moore's Law
  • Wirth's law
  • Ninety-ninety rule
  • Knuth's optimization principle
  • Norvig's Law

開頭就放 Murphy's Law... XD

裡面的概念大多數都聽過了，有些知道名字，但有些只知道概念...

西班牙透過新法規限制 Uber 營業

包括 Uber 與 Cabify 都受到新規範影響：「Ride-hailing companies suspend Barcelona services after new regulations」。

新規範限制乘客必須在上車前十五分鐘叫車：

The Catalan government ruled that ride-hailing services could only pick up passengers after a 15-minute delay from the time they were booked.

不是直接說你違法，而是用這個方式壓制隨叫隨到的服務... 這個方式應該會擴散到其他地區。

Facebook 花錢向使用者購買他們的行為記錄

這則從 Nuzzel 上看到的，國外討論得很凶：「Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them」。

Facebook 付錢給使用者，要他們安裝 VPN (以及 Root CA，看起來是為了聽 HTTPS 內容)，然後從上面蒐集資料，這本身就不是什麼好聽的行為了，但更嚴重的問題在於包括了未成年人：

Since 2016, Facebook has been paying users ages 13 to 35 up to $20 per month plus referral fees to sell their privacy by installing the iOS or Android “Facebook Research” app. Facebook even asked users to screenshot their Amazon order history page. The program is administered through beta testing services Applause, BetaBound and uTest to cloak Facebook’s involvement, and is referred to in some documentation as “Project Atlas” — a fitting name for Facebook’s effort to map new trends and rivals around the globe.

這個計畫在 iOS 平台下架了，但 Android 平台看起來還是會繼續：

[Update 11:20pm PT: Facebook now tells TechCrunch it will shut down the iOS version of its Research app in the wake of our report. The rest of this article has been updated to reflect this development.]

Facebook’s Research program will continue to run on Android. We’re still awaiting comment from Apple on whether Facebook officially violated its policy and if it asked Facebook to stop the program. As was the case with Facebook removing Onavo Protect from the App Store last year, Facebook may have been privately told by Apple to voluntarily remove it.

未成年人部份應該會是重點，拉板凳出來看...

加拿大禁止透過 ISP 發送版權侵害通知

因為被濫用的關係，加拿大決定禁止版權擁有人透過 ISP 發送版權侵害通知：「Canada Prohibits Piracy Settlement Demands in ISP Copyright Notices」。

不過這個限制是有條件的，只有當通知裡面有包括任何形式的協議時才會被禁止：

Moving forward, rightsholders will not be allowed to send copyright infringement notices for ISPs to pass onto their customers, if they contain a direct or indirect offer to settle.

TorrentFreak 的文章裡也提到了，就是要阻止這樣的行為變成「產業」：

The development effectively ends Rightscorp-style business models in Canada.

這是條文：

Bill C-86, the Budget Implementation Act, has now received royal assent, so there will be some big changes in the Great White North. Section 41.‍25 of the Copyright Act is now amended with the addition of the following;

(3) A notice of claimed infringement shall not contain:

(a) an offer to settle the claimed infringement;
(b) a request or demand, made in relation to the claimed infringement, for payment or for personal information;
(c) a reference, including by way of hyperlink, to such an offer, request or demand; and
(d) any other information that may be prescribed by regulation.

加州打算強制規定新房子都要有太陽能...

加州打算直接從法律上規定從 2020 年開始的新房子都要有太陽能：「California set to become first US state requiring solar panels on new homes」。

The state’s Energy Commission is due to vote next week on new energy standards that would require virtually all new homes to be constructed with solar panels from 2020.

如果通過的話，從 20% 直接變成強制性的 100%：

Currently around 20 per cent of single-family homes are constructed with solar capacity built in, but if the new standards are approved as expected this proportion will rise sharply.

下個禮拜回來看看消息好了，這應該是蠻指標性的事情... 無論是在經濟上還是在環保題材上。

FTC 警告 Nintendo 與 Sony「拆封喪失保固」違反聯邦法

在「FTC Warns Companies ‘Warranty Void if Removed’ Stickers Are Flatly Illegal」這邊看到的新聞。FTC 的新聞稿則可以在「FTC Staff Warns Companies that It Is Illegal to Condition Warranty Coverage on the Use of Specified Parts or Services」這邊看到。

主要是因為美國的聯邦法 Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act (在 STATUTE-88-Pg2183.pdf 這邊可以看到條文 PDF，雖然看起來是掃描的圖檔，但有透過 OCR 處理讓大多數的文字都可以搜尋)。

這套聯邦法保護消費者在接受保固時不受嚴苛的限制。法條裡面並沒有強制規定一定要有保固，但規定了如果有保固時，有哪些行為是受到規範的，以避免消費者受到不平等的對待：

The law does not require any product to have a warranty (it may be sold "as is"), but if it does have a warranty, the warranty must comply with this law. The law was created to fix problems as a result of manufacturers using disclaimers on warranties in an unfair or misleading manner.

其中這段條文讓 FTC 認為「拆封喪失保固」違法：

(c) No Warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade, or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection may be waived by the Commission if—
(1) the warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the article or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and
(2) the Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest.

在 FTC 的新聞稿中提到他們發給六家警告，列出了其中三家的文字，在媒體的報導裡面也都找出來這些文字分別是從哪些公司出來的，包括了 Hyundai (現代)、Nintendo (任天堂) 以及 Sony (索尼)：

“The use of [company name] parts is required to keep your… manufacturer’s warranties and any extended warranties intact.” = Hyundai.

“This warranty shall not apply if this product… is used with products not sold or licensed by” = Nintendo.

“This warranty does not apply if this product… has had the warranty seal on the [product] altered, defaced, or removed” = Sony.

不過在另外一邊，Reddit 上 Nintendo 區的討論也蠻有趣的：「FTC Staff Warns Companies that it is Illegal to Condition Warranty Coverage on the Use of Specified Parts or Services : nintendo」，裡面就稍微扯遠了一些，提到了改機之類的保固問題...

另外值得一提的是，同一家媒體在 2016 年的時候就有報導類似的事情了，不過看起來當時沒什麼改善：「Microsoft, Sony, and other companies still use illegal warranty-void-if-removed stickers」，這次由 FTC 出手應該會再更有力道一些。