Human rights principles Archives | Page 109 of 162

UK actors’ union demands rights as AI uses performers’ likenesses without consent

The British performers’ union Equity has warned of coordinated mass action against technology companies and entertainment producers that use its members’ images, voices or likenesses in artificial-intelligence-generated content without proper consent.

Equity’s general secretary, Paul W Fleming, announced plans to mobilise tens of thousands of actors through subject access requests under data-protection law, compelling companies to disclose whether they have used performers’ data in AI content.

The move follows growing numbers of complaints from actors about alleged mis-use of their likenesses or voices in AI material. One prominent case involves Scottish actor Briony Monroe, who claims her facial features and mannerisms were used to create the synthetic performer ‘Tilly Norwood’. The AI-studio behind the character denies the allegations.

Equity says the strategy is intended to ‘make it so hard for tech companies and producers to not enter into collective rights’ deals. It argues that existing legislation is being circumvented as foundational AI models are trained using data from actors, but with little transparency or compensation.

The trade body Pact, representing studios and producers, acknowledges the importance of AI but counters that without accessing new tools firms may fall behind commercially. Pact complains about the lack of transparency from companies on what data is used to train AI systems.

In essence, the standoff reflects deeper tensions in the creative industries: how to balance innovation, performer rights and transparency in an era when digital likenesses and synthetic ‘actors’ are emerging rapidly.

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Civil groups question independence of Irish privacy watchdog

More than 40 civil society organisations have asked the European Commission to investigate Ireland’s privacy regulator. Their letter questions whether the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) remains independent following the appointment of a former Meta lobbyist as Commissioner.

Niamh Sweeney, previously Facebook’s head of public policy for Ireland, became the DPC’s third commissioner in September. Her appointment has triggered concerns among digital rights groups that oversee compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

The letter calls for a formal work programme to ensure that data protection rules are enforced consistently and free from political or corporate influence. Civil society groups argue that effective oversight is essential to preserve citizens’ trust and uphold the GDPR’s credibility.

The DPC, headquartered in Dublin, supervises major tech firms such as Meta, Apple, and Google under the EU’s privacy regime. Critics have long accused it of being too lenient toward large companies operating in Ireland’s digital sector.

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Startup raises $9m to orchestrate Gulf digital infrastructure

Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh has launched 1001 AI, a London–Dubai startup building an AI-native operating system for critical MENA industries. The two-month-old firm raised $9m seed from CIV, General Catalyst and Lux Capital, with angels including Chris Ré, Amjad Masad and Amira Sajwani.

Target sectors include airports, ports, construction, and oil and gas, where 1001 AI sees billions in avoidable inefficiencies. Its engine ingests live operational data, models workflows and issues real-time directives, rerouting vehicles, reassigning crews and adjusting plans autonomously.

Abu-Ghazaleh brings scale-up experience from Hive AI and Scale AI, where he led GenAI operations and contributor networks. 1001 borrows a consulting-style rollout: embed with clients, co-develop the model, then standardise reusable patterns across similar operational flows.

Investors argue the Gulf is an ideal test bed given sovereign-backed AI ambitions and under-digitised, mission-critical infrastructure. Deena Shakir of Lux says the region is ripe for AI that optimises physical operations at scale, from flight turnarounds to cargo moves.

First deployments are slated for construction by year-end, with aviation and logistics to follow. The funding supports early pilots and hiring across engineering, operations and go-to-market, as 1001 aims to become the Gulf’s orchestration layer before expanding globally.

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AWS outage shows the cost of cloud concentration

A single fault can bring down the modern web. During the outage on Monday, 20 October 2025, millions woke to broken apps, games, banking, and tools after database errors at Amazon Web Services rippled outward. When a shared backbone stumbles, the blast radius engulfs everything from chat to commerce.

The outage underscored cloud concentration risk. Roblox, Fortnite, Pokémon Go, Snapchat, and workplace staples like Slack and Monday.com stumbled together because many depend on the same region and data layer. Failover, throttling, and retries help, but simultaneous strain can swamp safeguards.

On Friday, 19 July 2024, a faulty CrowdStrike update crashed Windows machines worldwide, triggering blue screens that grounded flights, delayed surgeries, and froze point-of-sale systems. The fix was simple; recovery wasn’t. Friday patches gained a new cautionary tale.

Earlier shocks foreshadowed today’s scale. In 1997, a Network Solutions glitch briefly hobbled .com and .net. In 2018, malware in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna knocked services offline, sending a community of 100,000 back to paper. Each incident showed how mundane errors cascade into civic life.

Resilience now means multi-region designs, cross-cloud failovers, tested runbooks, rate-limit backstops, and graceful read-only modes. Add regulatory stress tests, clear incident comms, and sector drills with hospitals, airlines, and banks. The internet will keep breaking; our job is to make it bend.

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SMEs underinsured as Canada’s cyber landscape shifts

Canada’s cyber insurance market is stabilising, with stronger underwriting, steadier loss trends, and more product choice, the Insurance Bureau of Canada says. But the threat landscape is accelerating as attackers weaponise AI, leaving many small and medium-sized enterprises exposed and underinsured.

Rapid market growth brought painful losses during the ransomware surge: from 2019 to 2023, combined loss ratios averaged about 155%, forcing tighter pricing and coverage. Insurers have recalibrated, yet rising AI-enabled phishing and deepfake impersonations are lifting complexity and potential severity.

Policy is catching up unevenly. Bill C-8 in Canada would revive critical-infrastructure cybersecurity standards, stronger oversight, and baseline rules for risk management and incident reporting. Public–private programmes signal progress but need sustained execution.

SMEs remain the pressure point. Low uptake means minor breaches can cost tens or hundreds of thousands, while severe incidents can be fatal. Underinsurance shifts shock to the wider economy, challenging insurers to balance affordability with long-term viability.

The Bureau urges practical resilience: clearer governance, employee training, incident playbooks, and fit-for-purpose cover. Education campaigns and free guidance aim to demystify coverage, boost readiness, and help SMEs recover faster when attacks hit, supporting a more durable digital economy.

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Tailored pricing is here and personal data is the price signal

AI is quietly changing how prices are set online. Beyond demand-based shifts, companies increasingly tailor offers to individuals, using browsing history, purchase habits, device, and location to predict willingness to pay. Two shoppers may see different prices for the same product at the same moment.

Dynamic pricing raises or lowers prices for everyone as conditions change, such as school-holiday airfares or hotel rates during major events. Personalised pricing goes further by shaping offers for specific users, rewarding cart-abandoners with discounts while charging rarer shoppers a premium.

Platforms mine clicks, time on page, past purchases, and abandoned baskets to build profiles. Experiments show targeted discounts can lift sales while capping promo spend, proving engineered prices scale. The result: you may not see a ‘standard’ price, but one designed for you.

The risks are mounting. Income proxies such as postcode or device can entrench inequality, while hidden algorithms erode trust when buyers later find cheaper prices. Accountability is murky if tailored prices mislead, discriminate, or breach consumer protections without clear disclosure.

Regulators are moving. A competition watchdog in Australia has flagged transparency gaps, unfair trading risks, and the need for algorithmic disclosure. Businesses now face a twin test: deploy AI pricing with consent, explainability, and opt-outs, and prove it delivers value without crossing ethical lines.

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Meta previews parental controls over teen AI character chats

Meta has previewed upcoming parental control features for its AI experiences, particularly aimed at teens’ interactions with AI characters. The new tools are expected to roll out next year.

Under the proposed controls, parents will be able to turn off chats between teens and AI characters altogether, though the broader Meta AI chatbot remains accessible. They can also block specific characters if they wish. Parents will receive topic summaries of what teens are discussing with AI characters and with Meta AI itself.

The first deployment will be on Instagram, with initial availability in English for the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Meta says it recognises the challenges parents face in guiding children through new technology, and wants these tools to simplify oversight.

Meta also notes that AI content and experiences intended for teens will follow a PG-13 standard: avoiding extreme violence, nudity and graphic drug content. Teens currently interact with only a limited set of AI characters under age-appropriate guidelines.

Additionally, Meta plans to allow time limits on AI character use by teens. The company is also detecting and discouraging attempts by users to falsify their age to bypass restrictions.

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UK government urges awareness as £106m lost to romance fraud in one year

Romance fraud has surged across the United Kingdom, with new figures showing that victims lost a combined £106 million in the past financial year. Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for cybercrime, described the crime as one that causes severe financial, emotional, and social damage.

Among the victims is London banker Varun Yadav, who lost £40,000 to a scammer posing as a romantic partner on a dating app. After months of chatting online, the fraudster persuaded him to invest in a cryptocurrency platform.

When his funds became inaccessible, Yadav realised he had been deceived. ‘You see all the signs, but you are so emotionally attached,’ he said. ‘You are willing to lose the money, but not the connection.’

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said banks should play a stronger role in disrupting romance scams, calling for improved detection systems and better staff training to identify vulnerable customers. It urged firms to adopt what it called ‘compassionate aftercare’ for those affected.

Romance fraud typically involves criminals creating fake online profiles to build emotional connections before manipulating victims into transferring money.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and UK police recommend maintaining privacy on social media, avoiding financial transfers to online contacts, and speaking openly with friends or family before sending money.

The Metropolitan Police recently launched an awareness campaign featuring victim testimonies and guidance on spotting red flags. The initiative also promotes collaboration with dating apps, banks, and social platforms to identify fraud networks.

Detective Superintendent Kerry Wood, head of economic crime for the Met Police, said that romance scams remain ‘one of the most devastating’ forms of fraud. ‘It’s an abuse of trust which undermines people’s confidence and sense of self-worth. Awareness is the most powerful defence against fraud,’ she said.

Although Yadav never recovered his savings, he said sharing his story helped him rebuild his life. He urged others facing similar scams to speak up: ‘Do not isolate yourself. There is hope.’

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Meta to pull all political ads in EU ahead of new transparency law

Meta Platforms has said it will stop selling and showing political, electoral and social issue advertisements across its services in the European Union from early October 2025. The decision follows the EU’s Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation coming into full effect on 10 October.

Under TTPA, platforms will be required to clearly label political ads, disclose the sponsor, the election or social issue at hand, the amounts paid, and how the ads are targeted. These obligations also include strict conditions on targeting and require explicit consent for certain data use.

Meta called the requirements ‘significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties’ and labelled parts of the new rules ‘unworkable’ for advertisers and platforms. It said that personalised ads are widely used for issue-based campaigns and that limiting them might restrict how people access political or social issue-related information.

The company joins Google, which made a similar move last year citing comparable concerns about TTPA compliance.

While political ads will be banned under paid formats, Meta says organic political content (e.g. users posting or sharing political views) will still be permitted.

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AWS glitch triggers widespread outages across major apps

A major internet outage hit some of the world’s biggest apps and sites from about 9 a.m. CET Monday, with issues traced to Amazon Web Services. Tracking sites reported widespread failures across the US and beyond, disrupting consumer and enterprise services.

AWS cited ‘significant error rates’ in DynamoDB requests in the U S-EAST-1 region, impacting additional services in Northern Virginia. Engineers are mitigating while investigating root cause, and some customers couldn’t create or update Support Cases.

Outages clustered around Virginia’s dense data-centre corridor but rippled globally. Impacted brands included Amazon, Google, Snapchat, Roblox, Fortnite, Canva, Coinbase, Slack, Signal, Vodafone and the UK tax authority HMRC.

Coinbase told users ‘all funds are safe’ as platforms struggled to authenticate, fetch data and serve content tied to affected back-ends. Third-party monitors noted elevated failure rates across APIs and app logins.

The incident underscores heavy reliance on hyperscale infrastructure and the blast radius when core data services falter. Full restoration and a formal post-mortem are pending from AWS.

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