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Tech Companies Struggle to Control A.I. as Data Privacy Laws Tighten
Confirmed
In Short: California introduces new laws to protect student data from tech companies, while North Korea's covert workforce expansion poses a new threat.
California’s new law, Assembly Bill 1159, prohibits technology companies from using student data to train or develop A.I. models. This comes at a time when K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities are increasingly relying on A.I. for learning, grading, and navigating bureaucratic issues. The law expands on California’s 2014 education technology law, which already limited how companies could use data from students in prekindergarten, preschool, and K-12.
Tech companies, including SpaceX, acknowledge the current limitations in satellite launch capacity. However, several European companies are now vying to catch up with Isar, a German startup. In March, Isar announced a contract for the Spectrum rocket to launch a different Astroscale satellite, highlighting the growing interest in this sector.
Despite the new regulations, powerful pro-tech and pro-industry groups like TechNet and the California Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill. They did not respond to CalMatters’ request for comment, leaving the debate open on the balance between privacy and innovation.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s covert workforce expansion has expanded to include remote workers from other countries, such as Iran and Lebanon, according to U.S. government and foreign agencies. This scheme, estimated to involve thousands of workers applying to hundreds of American companies, generates hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The money is then laundered and used to fund the communist regime’s illicit weapons programs.
These developments underscore the complex challenges facing tech companies in managing data privacy and security, as well as the broader geopolitical implications of global workforce expansion.
What's confirmed
- California’s new law, Assembly Bill 1159, prohibits technology companies from using student data to train or develop A.I. models. This comes at a time when K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities are increasingly relying on A.I. for learning, grading, and navigating bureaucratic issues. The law expands on California’s 2014 education technology law, which already limited how companies could use data from students in prekindergarten, preschool, and K-12.
- Tech companies, including SpaceX, acknowledge the current limitations in satellite launch capacity. However, several European companies are now vying to catch up with Isar, a German startup. In March, Isar announced a contract for the Spectrum rocket to launch a different Astroscale satellite, highlighting the growing interest in this sector.
- Despite the new regulations, powerful pro-tech and pro-industry groups like TechNet and the California Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill. They did not respond to CalMatters’ request for comment, leaving the debate open on the balance between privacy and innovation.
- Meanwhile, North Korea’s covert workforce expansion has expanded to include remote workers from other countries, such as Iran and Lebanon, according to U.S. government and foreign agencies. This scheme, estimated to involve thousands of workers applying to hundreds of American companies, generates hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The money is then laundered and used to fund the communist regime’s illicit weapons programs.
- These developments underscore the complex challenges facing tech companies in managing data privacy and security, as well as the broader geopolitical implications of global workforce expansion.
What's still developing
- If you ask most satellite companies aside from SpaceX, they will tell you the world doesn’t have enough capacity for launching payloads into orbit.
- “Ensuring data privacy and protection is vital to our children’s well-being, dignity, and right to learn. No child should be put at risk of big tech taking advantage of their personal data for financial — or any kind of gain,” said Addis in a press release Thursday.
- A new law creates stricter rules for how companies gather and sell student data.
- The new law applies the same rules to the use of college students’ data and broadens the scope of companies subject to the regulations.
- That law, for instance, applies to companies that “primarily” serve students and that are designed and marketed for them.