• Are non-profit vaccine passports the key to preserving privacy?
    https://news.trust.org/item/20210427112013-knbu7
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    Digital vaccine passports that can be managed on a mobile app are a popular choice not just for travel, but increasingly for work and entry to bars, cinemas and other social activities.

    But rights experts say they exclude marginalised groups, and raise risks of greater surveillance and loss of privacy.

    Amid the rash of big technology companies including IBM, Oracle and Microsoft that are developing digital passports, is a handful of non-profits who say their vaccine passes can preserve privacy and are more inclusive.

    “Not every tech solution should be controlled by big tech,” said Jennifer Zhu Scott, executive chairman of The Commons Project, a non-profit that has partnered with the World Economic Forum to develop a mobile app to show vaccine status.

    “We can take this global crisis and make data ownership more inclusive if we can provide privacy-preserving solutions for people. Those are the best technologies that we can put into someone’s hands,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    Vaccine passports have been around in some form for a while, from certificates for smallpox vaccinations in the 1800s to evidence of shots for diphtheria and whooping cough, and the “yellow card” for proof of inoculation against yellow fever.

    These were generally paper certificates stamped by doctors. Vaccine passports for COVID-19 are often mobile apps that contain more personal details of the individual, their vaccination status and vaccine dosage.

    The Commons Project’s CommonPass, which is free to download, allows individuals to access their lab result and vaccination record, and requires their consent to have that information validate their COVID-19 status without revealing any other underlying health information at the same time.

    Several airlines including Lufthansa, Qantas and Cathay Pacific are using or testing CommonPass. The Commons Project is also talking to dozens of governments, said Scott.

    “Perhaps at the end of the pandemic, we can look back and say: we returned some of the data ownership to individuals,” she said.

    “Since national and international inequities in access to vaccines are occurring along racial and economic lines, vaccine passports are poised to be a marker of privilege of vaccination, rather than a simple signifier of immunity,” she said.

    In addition, vulnerable groups like undocumented people may be unable to use vaccine passports even if they are vaccinated, “for fear of their movements being logged or tracked,” she said.

    “The underlying problem presented by vaccine passports - dictating entry into private and public space - remains,” she said.

    “Put simply, if we want vaccine passports to be equitable, we must vaccinate equitably.”

    #Passeport_vaccinal #Vie_privée

  • EU urged to ban AI tools that detect gender, sexuality
    https://news.trust.org/item/20210416162604-x84jp

    Draft EU rules include curbs on AI technology like facial recognition, but not on systems that detect gender, sexuality, race or disability April 16 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A cross-party group of European lawmakers called on Friday for an EU ban on artificial intelligence (AI) systems that detect and label people according to gender or sexuality, saying the technology was ripe for abuse and could fuel discrimination. Draft rules set to be announced by the European Commission next (...)

    #vidéo-surveillance #sexisme #biométrie #algorithme #CCTV #reconnaissance #facial #discrimination #LGBT #surveillance #AccessNow (...)

    ##technologisme
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  • Amazon AI van cameras spark surveillance concerns
    https://news.trust.org/item/20210205132207-c0mz7

    Amazon is rolling out AI-enabled surveillance cameras in its delivery vans Drivers and privacy advocates say the company is building a massive mobile surveillance system Although the system is billed to improve driver safety, some worry it is more about exerting control By Avi Asher-Schapiro BERLIN, Feb 5 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Amazon.com Inc’s announcement this week that it would be rolling out AI-powered cameras in its branded delivery vans for safety has drawn criticism (...)

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  • L’Angleterre crée un suivi médical pour les malades #COVID-19 avec persistance de symptômes invalidants.
    https://news.trust.org/item/20201007143429-2a0on

    NHS England said that some estimates indicated 10% of COVID patients may still be experiencing symptoms more than three weeks after infection, with around 60,000 suffering from Long COVID symptoms after more than three months.

    “It is now clear that Long Covid can have a major impact on the lives of a significant minority of patients weeks or months after they have contracted the virus,” said NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens.

    “We must respond sensitively and effectively to these new patient needs.”

  • EXCLUSIVE-U.S. to slap sanctions on over two dozen targets ...
    https://news.trust.org/item/20200920153951-37fi7
    by Reuters - Sunday, 20 September 2020 16:30 GMT
    By Steve Holland and Arshad Mohammed

    WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday will sanction more than two dozen people and entities involved in Iran’s nuclear, missile and conventional arms programs, a senior U.S. official said, putting teeth behind U.N. sanctions on Tehran that Washington argues have resumed despite the opposition of allies and adversaries.

    Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Iran could have enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon by the end of the year and that Tehran has resumed long-range missile cooperation with nuclear-armed North Korea. He did not provide detailed evidence regarding either assertion.

    The new sanctions fit into U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to limit Iran’s regional influence and come a week after U.S.-brokered deals for the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize ties with Israel, pacts that may coalesce a wider coalition against Iran while appealing to pro-Israel U.S. voters ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

    The new sanctions also put European allies, China and Russia on notice that while their inclination may be to ignore the U.S. drive to maintain the U.N. sanctions on Iran, companies based in their nations would feel the bite for violating them.

    A major part of the new U.S. push is an executive order targeting those who buy or sell Iran conventional arms that was previously reported by Reuters and will also be unveiled by the Trump administration on Monday, the official said.

    #Iran #USAIran

  • With social media, Zimbabwean youth fight pandemic ’infodemic’
    https://news.trust.org/item/20200723041330-fqvs7
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    JOHANNESBURG/BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, July 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Drinking alcohol will kill the coronavirus. It is OK to share face masks. Africans cannot get COVID-19. The pandemic is not even real.

    These are some of the coronavirus myths that a team of 20 Zimbabwean youth have been busting online since the country’s lockdown began in late March, using social media and radio shows to reach an estimated 100,000 people to date.

    “There is a common saying that ’ignorance is bliss’. Well, in this instance, ignorance is not bliss, if anything ignorance is death,” said Bridget Mutsinze, 25, a volunteer based in the capital, Harare.

    Although relatively low compared to the rest of the continent, Zimbabwe is experiencing an uptick in the number of coronavirus infections, with more than 1,800 cases and at least 26 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

    To stem the spread of the disease, Zimbabwean youth working with development charity Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) have taken to Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and radio to comb through online comments, identify and correct COVID-19 misinformation.

    The spread of coronavirus misinformation has been a global issue, with the World Health Organization describing it as an “infodemic”.

    While tech giants WhatsApp and Facebook have teamed up with African governments to tackle fake news through interactive bots, adverts and push notifications, VSO volunteers are leading the battle within their communities.

    Across the continent, 86% of Africans aged 18-24 own a smartphone and nearly 90% use it for social media, according to a survey by the South African-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation.

    VSO volunteers are tapping into the informal conversations taking place on these platforms.

    “If we do not get facts out there, people will continue to live as they wish and the number of people who get the virus will continue to spread,” Mutsinze told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    #Désinformation #Fake_News #COVID-19 #Zimbabwe

  • Indigenous leader from threatened tribe killed in Brazil
    https://news.trust.org/item/20200401173813-5za27

    A leader of a protected tribe in the Amazon has been found dead, authorities said, marking the fifth violent death in six months in a region rife with conflict between illegal loggers and indigenous people.

    The body of Zezico Guajajara, a member of the #Guajajara tribe, was discovered with bullet wounds near an indigenous reservation on Tuesday in Maranhao state, part of the Amazon region, said Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency #FUNAI.

    #Brésil #assassinat #peuples_autochtones #forêt #bois #déforestation

  • New pact paves way for innovative solutions to disaster and climate change displacement in Africa

    People fleeing disasters and climate change will be able to seek safety in neighbouring countries under the pioneering deal.

    A breakthrough agreement to assist people fleeing natural hazards, disasters and climate change in eastern Africa was concluded this week. The deal not only allows those forced to flee disaster-affected countries to seek safety in neighbouring countries, but also ensures they will not be sent home until it safe and reasonable to return.

    The new agreement – the #IGAD_Free_Movement_Protocol – was endorsed by all seven Member States of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Khartoum on 26 February. The Protocol follows years of negotiations and consultations. It marks a significant step in addressing the protection gap for growing numbers of people worldwide displaced by disasters, who often do not qualify for refugee status or other forms of international protection.

    It is all the more poignant that the IGAD Free Movement Protocol takes in a region that includes some of the countries worst affected by drought, flooding and environmental degradation, including Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The combination of natural hazards and disasters with other challenges – including conflict, poverty and weak governance – makes dealing with displacement in this region a complex and multifaceted issue.

    The IGAD Protocol’s protection for people affected by disasters and climate change is broad. It facilitates entry and lawful stay for those who have been displaced. It also allows those at risk of displacement to move pre-emptively as a way of avoiding, or mitigating, the impacts of a disaster.

    It specifically provides for citizens of IGAD Member States to cross borders ‘in anticipation of, during or in the aftermath of disaster’, and enables disaster-affected people to remain in another country as long as return to their country of origin ‘is not possible or reasonable’.

    The IGAD Protocol could provide inspiration and impetus for the use of free movement elsewhere in Africa as well. In the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the East African Community (EAC), free movement agreements are already in place. But it is not yet clear how disaster-affected communities in these regions will access free movement arrangements, or be protected from rejection or return when crossing an international border.

    The need for African governments to further consider the role of free movement in addressing disaster and climate change displacement in Africa was the subject of a regional meeting in South Africa last year. Policymakers and experts agreed that free movement could provide some of the communities most vulnerable to climate change access to safety and opportunities for more sustainable livelihoods.

    One of the advantages of using free movement arrangements to address displacement is that it obviates the need to impose specific, and sometimes artificial, distinctions between those who move. While refugee protection depends on a person meeting the technical, legal criteria of a refugee, free movement is generally available to all citizens of Member States of the same region. In some cases, a passport is not even required – possession of a national identity card may be enough to facilitate entry and stay elsewhere.

    The progressive realisation of free movement is a continent-wide goal in Africa. The African Union (AU) ‘Agenda 2063’ sets out a vision of an integrated Africa, where people and goods move freely between countries. In 2018, the AU adopted the continent-wide Protocol Relating to Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment. The IGAD Protocol could provide a first step in supporting the other African regions and countries to develop specific frameworks and guidelines for the use of free movement in the context of disaster and climate change.

    For the potential of the IGAD Free Movement Protocol to be realised in reality, implementation is key. At present, regional and sub-regional free movement agreements across Africa’s various RECs may be undermined by restrictive laws and policies at the national level, or by onerous documentation requirements for those who move. The IGAD Roadmap to Implementation, adopted together with the Protocol, sets out specific measures to be taken by IGAD Member States when putting free movement arrangements into practice.

    The adoption of the IGAD Protocol presents a cause for celebration. It also presents a timely opportunity to further consider how countries in Africa can provide avenues to safety and security for the large, and increasing, numbers of people who move in the context of natural hazards, disasters and climate change. Action taken now could ensure the benefits of free movement for vulnerable communities well into the future.

    https://news.trust.org/item/20200228175003-4k8dq

    #réfugiés #réfugiés_climatiques #réfugiés_environnementaux #asile #migrations #changement_climatique #climat #pacte #accord #Afrique #sécheresse #inondations #dégradations_environnementales #Somalie #Ethiopie #Soudan_du_Sud #liberté_de_mouvement #liberté_de_circulation

    ping @karine4