Category Archives: Tech

Will we agree to restrict the use of killer robots?

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Forget the threat of Facebook’s privacy intrusions. How about killer robots? Hollywood has done a good job of getting the public used to the idea of killer robots of various kinds.

But it’s no longer just a matter of fantastic computer graphics in movies. Technology has developed to the point where the issue is not “if” we will be able to build systems of robot weapons, but when.

And, for those who are trying to maintain a legal framework for international arms control, it’s a problem that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Put simply, the international laws of war have to be rewritten to take maintain their relevance as this new type of warfare arrives on the scene.

The Lawfare Blog just published a review of the current status of international discussions of “Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems,” or LAWS.

Though states have not agreed on a definition of LAWS, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has defined “autonomous weapon systems” as “[a]ny weapon system with autonomy in its critical functions—that is, a weapon system that can select (i.e. search for or detect, identify, track, select) and attack (i.e. use force against, neutralize, damage or destroy) targets without human intervention.”

The article links to a couple of versions of a 2014 report from an “expert meeting” organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross to discuss the issues (“Autonomous weapon systems technical, military, legal and humanitarian aspects“).

There’s also a useful link to another scholarly article, “Debating Autonomous Weapon Systems, Their Ethics, and Their Regulation Under International Law.”

A Sunday potpourri

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Here are a few suggestions of things to read today.

Top of my list, a piece by Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes in Lawfare Blog, “What We Know, and Don’t Know, About the Firing of Andrew McCabe“.

This is a pretty even-handed assessment of the McCabe case. The authors point out that we just don’t know enough yet to determine whether the evidence compiled and the nature of the offense warranted firing.

But even if the findings did support firing, there are independent reasons that firing McCabe in this way is disturbing.

They write:

…even if McCabe’s firing proves to be justified on the merits, the question is what could have possibly justified breaking it off from the larger probe and rushing it to completion and adjudication in time to beat the deadline of McCabe’s retirement—particularly in context of presidential demands for his removal and Trump’s broader assault on independent and apolitical law enforcement.

[The column reprints one of the president’s tweets about the firing.]

In the end, such conduct necessarily taints the merits of the action against McCabe. Even if the Justice Department’s process proves pure as the driven snow and the case against McCabe proves compelling, who is going to believe—in the face of overt presidential demands for a corrupt Justice Department—that a Justice Department that gives the president what he wants is anything less than the lackey he asks for? The Justice Department career officials involved in this action know this. They know they are being made to look like lackeys, which may be reason to assume that they will have dotted every “i” and crossed every “t” in this instance—and that the facts against McCabe must be bad. But the politicization of law enforcement takes place either way—the latest and perhaps one of the most extreme instances of politicization in a chain of events that has embroiled the FBI in partisan politics since the beginning of the Clinton email investigation. If this action is the political attack that McCabe says it is, everyone involved is responsible for a terrible smear and a horrific abuse of a longtime public servant. But if the dismissal is absolutely justified and the public doesn’t believe that, the integrity of law enforcement suffers as well.

In any case, it’s worthwhile reading.

Then check out Shelly Palmer’s “Build Your Own Troll Farm“.

This is a step-by-step tour through the system that, according to the best assessment of American and international intelligence agencies, was exploited by Russia in Trump’s favor during the 2016 presidential campaign. For those of us who aren’t well versed in the techniques described, it’s quite enlightening.

And if you need a quick refresher on why we’re concerned about Russian trolls, you might want to check out these two NPR stories:

How A Russian Troll Factory Waged An Aggressive Campaign To Disrupt The U.S. Election, February 22, 2018.

Russian Trolling Continued After Election, March 17, 2018.

Finally, something a bit lighter from the travel site, Kayak.com, “Where Travelers from Your State are Going for Spring Break.”

It’s a state by state breakdown of trending destinations, presumably based on an analysis of Kayak searches.

Top destination for those in Hawaii? Bangkok, Thailand.

Share what you find most suprising in their list.

Assessing “informed delivery”

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Last week I signed up for the U.S. Postal Service’s “Informed Delivery” option.

Here’s their description:

Informed Delivery® by USPS®
Digitally preview your mail and manage your packages scheduled to arrive soon! Informed Delivery allows you to view greyscale images of the exterior, address side of letter-sized mailpieces and track packages in one convenient location.*

* Images are only provided for letter-sized mailpieces that are processed through USPS’ automated equipment

So now every day I receive an email with photos of the front of the pieces of mail scheduled for delivery, showing return addresses, etc. They don’t photograph the contents, just the fronts of the envelopes. Sort of like NSA’s keeping of the metadata from the world’s emails.

Initially, I just thought it sounded interesting.

Now I’m wondering what it says about the surveillance capabilities of the postal system and whether there are adequate safeguards in place to prevent misuse. And does it mean we’re all open to “Big Brother” surveillance of what’s being delivered to our homes?

From a comment on one online forum: “Creepy or cool?”

In another spot, it’s called “a stalker’s dream,” based on fears that the USPS privacy controls are vulnerable to identity thieves and stalkers.

The World Privacy Forum (whatever the heck that is) says it “puts consumers at risk.”

I’m still digging into the questions that have been raised about the service. In the meantime, I was wondering what others feel about it? If you’ve signed up, has it been useful? Are you worried about the potential threat to privacy?

State procurement database gets a facelift

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I routinely make periodic checks of contract information available through the State Procurement Office website, often picking up interesting bits of information.

The website has been revamped to make it easier to search through the large amounts of data relating to contract solicitations, contract awards, exemptions from routine procurement procedures for emergencies or sole source contracts, etc.

Check out HANDS, the Hawaii Awards & Notices Data System.

According to the website: “HANDS gathers information from multiple state and county procurement platforms and displays it all in one place.”

There’s no cost to view or search the contract database, which is open to the general public.

I usually find interesting things, although not necessary newsworthy.

For example, the Department of Land and Natural Resources has awarded a $60,000 contract to a California company, Conservation Metrics, Inc., to analyze over 1,000 hours of field recordings of bird calls in the Kahikinui area of Maui. Several of the company’s staff have extensive research experience in Hawaii.

Conservation Metrics has a huge database of Hawaiian seabird calls and uses a proprietary algorithm to analyze the presence and activity of specific species. This contract aims to track the activity level and population size of Hawaiian petrel, Newell’s shearwater, Bandrumped storm petrel, and the common barn owl.

Another request for approval of emergency contracts details damage to buildings at Kapiolani Community College during an unexpectedly intense storm in February 2017.

“Another On Saturday February 11, 2017 at approximately 11:30 a.m., Kapiolani Community College was severely hit by hurricane force winds and engulfed by rain. After the fact readings would reveal that winds reached upward of 75mph and flash flooding occurred throughout the island of Oahu…for 5-10 minutes the campus was engulfed by hurricane winds and torrential rains. At the time of the storm, nearly 4,000 people, many of whom were children under the age of 13, were present at the KCC campus for the weekly Farmer’s Market and the annual Honolulu District DOE Science Fair.”

During the storm, “water rose to about three feet deep along the back” of the Kalia Building. When the parent of a student attending the science fair opened the back door to check the flood conditions, water rushed in, flooding most of the first floor an average of four to seven inches. Two large computer labs and classrooms, and about 15,000 square feet of administrative space and officers, were affected.

It cost more than $81,000 to clean up the water and mud, then repair the flood damage by disinfecting the area and testing to prevent mold, cleaning behind and within walls, removing and replacing damaged drywall, etc.

The request for approval contains a number of pictures of the storm damage. Quite an eye opener!

In any case, I recommend bookmarking the HANDS database for future reference.