The EU’s plan to regulate artificial intelligence is ill-equipped to protect people from flawed algorithms that deprive them of lifesaving benefits & discriminate against vulnerable populations.

New Human Rights Watch report: hrw.org/news/2021/11/1… Image
“The EU’s proposal does not do enough to protect people from algorithms that unfairly strip them of the benefits they need to support themselves or find a job. The proposal also fails to put an end to abusive surveillance and profiling of people living in poverty.” - @AmosToh
In some EU countries, algorithms have become a key tool for rationalizing welfare cuts. In Austria, the government's algorithm to predict employment prospects cuts some people off from the support they need to find a job, jeopardizing their right to an adequate standard of living
Surveillance technologies that intensify monitoring & profiling of people on low incomes are also spreading across Europe.
In the Netherlands, the government rolled out a risk scoring program in predominantly low-income neighborhoods, in an effort to predict people’s likelihood of engaging in benefits or tax fraud.
A government suspended the program after a court ruled that it violated people’s privacy. But there's fresh alarm about a bill in parliament that would authorize data sharing between public authorities and the private sector to detect fraud and potentially revive risk scoring.
In Ireland, the government requires people to register for a digital identity card to gain access to welfare benefits and other public services. The registration process – which uses facial recognition – is unnecessary & unduly intrusive.
The EU’s proposal is a weak defence against these dangers.

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More from @astroehlein

12 Nov
#Ukraine's arrest of Denis Kulikovsky, a senior member of the Russia-backed armed group DNR is big news: a step toward justice.

In 2015-18, he oversaw the “Izoliatsiia” detention center in Donetsk, where @hrw & others have documented torture.
hrw.org/news/2021/11/1… Image
The war in eastern #Ukraine will soon enter its 8th year. Human Rights Watch and other groups have documented grave crimes committed by Russia-backed armed groups in the east, many of which would amount to war crimes, including enforced disappearances, torture, and forced labor.
My colleague, @yuliagorbunova_, for example, witnessed the exhumation of a mass grave in Sloviansk, at the time controlled by Russia-backed armed groups who regularly beat and tortured civilians.
Read 5 tweets
12 Nov
While the EU & its members focus on war talk, states of emergency & barbed wire, the acute suffering of women, men & children trapped in limbo is being ignored.

New dispatch from @LydsG, who’s just been on both #Poland & #Belarus sides of the border:
hrw.org/news/2021/11/1… Image
To prevent further deaths, the EU and its member states need to work with #Poland to immediately ensure humanitarian access to border areas, currently off-limits to those who can help.
#Poland should also halt unlawful pushbacks of migrants to #Belarus, where they will face inhuman and degrading treatment, and instead allow them access to its asylum procedure and decent reception conditions.
Read 6 tweets
11 Nov
Save lives whenever you have the power to do so.

That's it.

That's the message for our leaders.
On vaccines,

on climate change,

on migration...

Just. Prioritise. Human. Life.
It really is that straightforward.
Read 6 tweets
11 Nov
Over 80% of adults in Germany are fully vaccinated.

It's 73% in Austria.

Anti-vaxers are not our greatest problem. The real issue is:

Most of the world doesn't get the luxury of saying ‘Nein Danke’, because the EU & others are blocking wider production of vaccines globally.
Data on vaccination rates by country here: bit.ly/3ktQG7D
More on how rich governments are wrecking the global response to the global pandemic...

Read 4 tweets
11 Nov
If you were in charge of fighting the global pandemic, would you:

a) do everything possible to ensure global access to vaccines, therapeutic drugs & tests?

b) block wider production of vaccines, therapeutic drugs & tests globally to maximise pharmaceutical company profits?
Of course, YOU would pick (a), because you would prioritise ending the global pandemic as quickly as possible to save lives.

Me too.

Unfortunately, leaders in the EU (led by Germany in this), the UK, Switzerland and others have chosen (b), because they do not share our values
The global pandemic won't end until those leaders change course. Image
Read 4 tweets
10 Nov
December will mark the 1st anniversary of the launch of the global vaccination campaign against
coronavirus...

Only...

...it hasn't been global, has it?

New report from @TheEIU: eiu.com/n/campaigns/q4… Image
"less than 6% of the population in African states is vaccinated… The cause of such low vaccination rates is well-known: despite recent improvements, global production continues to lag behind demand, with developing countries facing long delays in accessing vaccines." Image
"Meanwhile, global solidarity is ineffective; so far, COVAX has shipped only around 400m doses of vaccines globally (compared with an initial target of delivering 1.9bn doses in 2021)."
Read 6 tweets

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