DOJ

Approaches to Address AI-enabled Voice Cloning

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 19, 2024
FCC, Challenge, Organization, Algorithm, Voice over IP, Intelligence, Telephone, Law enforcement, History, AI, DOJ, Commission, Software development kit, Human voice, Fraud, Book, SDK, Human, FTC, Mobile phone

Approaches to Address AI-enabled Voice Cloning Today, the FTC announced four winners of the Voice Cloning Challenge, which was launched to address the present and emerging harms of artificial intelligence, or “AI”-enabled voice cloning technologies.

Key Points: 

Approaches to Address AI-enabled Voice Cloning

  • Today, the FTC announced four winners of the Voice Cloning Challenge, which was launched to address the present and emerging harms of artificial intelligence, or “AI”-enabled voice cloning technologies.
  • The FTC received submissions from a wide range of individuals, teams, and organizations.

Leveraging solutions to provide upstream prevention or authentication

  • Prevention or authentication refers to techniques that limit the application and misuse of voice cloning software by unauthorized users.
  • One commonly discussed approach for prevention and authentication is watermarking, which often refers to a “broad array of techniques” for embedding an identifying mark into a piece of media to track its origin to help prevent the misuse of cloned audio clips.
  • [2] Invisible or visible watermarks can be altered or removed, potentially rendering them unhelpful for differentiating between real and synthetic content.

Applying solutions to detect solutions in real-time


Real-time detection or monitoring includes methods to detect cloned voices or the use of voice cloning technology at the time during which a specific event occurs. Studies reveal a spectrum of efficacy for voice cloning detection solutions.[5] The effectiveness of such solutions is especially important when considering the types of AI-enabled voice cloning scams – such as fraudulent extortion scams – that the technology can enable.

Using solutions to evaluate existing content

  • The post-use evaluation of existing content includes methods to check if already-created audio clips such as voice mail messages and audio direct messages contain cloned voices.
  • One potential way to evaluate existing audio clips is to develop algorithms that detect inconsistencies in voice cloned clips.

Looking forward: Preventing and deterring AI-enabled voice cloning scams and fraud

  • While there are many exciting ideas with great potential, there’s still no silver bullet to prevent the harms posed by voice cloning.
  • Further, voice service providers – telephone and VoIP companies – need to continue making progress against illegal calls.
  • In addition, the Commission has recently enacted a new Impersonation Rule, which will give the agency additional tools to deter and halt deceptive voice cloning practices.
  • There is no AI exemption from the laws on the books and the FTC remains committed to protecting consumers from the misuse of “AI”-enabled voice cloning technologies.


[2]https://arxiv.org/pdf/2306.01953.pdf
[3]https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/08/09/1077516/watermarking-ai-trus...
[4]https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/voice_cloning_financial_sca...
[5]https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.07683.pdf; https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.13770.pdf
[6]https://arxiv.org/pdf/2308.14970.pdf
[7]https://arxiv.org/pdf/2402.18085v1.pdf
[8] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.07683.pdf; https://arxiv.org/pdf/2402.18085v1.pdf

Federal Agencies Launch Portal for Public Reporting of Anticompetitive Practices in the Health Care Sector

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Patient, Social media, HHS, Policy, Blog, News, Privacy, DOJ, Complaint, Justice, Confidentiality, Justice minister, Administration, Federal Trade Commission, FTC

The online portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, allows the public to report potentially unfair and anticompetitive health care practices to the FTC and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

Key Points: 
  • The online portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, allows the public to report potentially unfair and anticompetitive health care practices to the FTC and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
  • The launch of the new portal advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to lower health care and prescription drug costs and help create more competitive health care markets that are fairer to patients, providers, payers, and workers.
  • That’s why we are working to tackle anticompetitive practices in the health care markets,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
  • “The Biden-Harris Administration and HHS know it is our responsibility to stop monopolistic, anti-competitive practices that undermine the delivery of health care to Americans.

Federal Agencies Launch Portal for Public Reporting of Anticompetitive Practices in the Health Care Sector

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Patient, Social media, HHS, Policy, Blog, News, Privacy, DOJ, Complaint, Justice, Confidentiality, Justice minister, Administration, Federal Trade Commission, FTC

The online portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, allows the public to report potentially unfair and anticompetitive health care practices to the FTC and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

Key Points: 
  • The online portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, allows the public to report potentially unfair and anticompetitive health care practices to the FTC and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
  • The launch of the new portal advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to lower health care and prescription drug costs and help create more competitive health care markets that are fairer to patients, providers, payers, and workers.
  • That’s why we are working to tackle anticompetitive practices in the health care markets,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
  • “The Biden-Harris Administration and HHS know it is our responsibility to stop monopolistic, anti-competitive practices that undermine the delivery of health care to Americans.

Proposed FTC Order will Prohibit Telehealth Firm Cerebral from Using or Disclosing Sensitive Data for Advertising Purposes, and Require it to Pay $7 Million

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Online, Diagnosis, Consumer protection, Betrayal, Name, District court, Patient, Internet, Mental health, Social media, Blog, News, DOJ, Commission, ROSCA, Complaint, IP, Justice, Pharmacy, File, Language, Privacy, Marketing, Advertising, Federal Trade Commission, FTC

The order must be approved by the court before it can go into effect.

Key Points: 
  • The order must be approved by the court before it can go into effect.
  • “As the Commission’s complaint lays out, Cerebral violated its customers’ privacy by revealing their most sensitive mental health conditions across the Internet and in the mail,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan.
  • “To address this betrayal, the Commission is ordering a first-of-its-kind prohibition that bans Cerebral from using any health information for most advertising purposes."
  • Cerebral provides online mental health and related services on a negative option basis, which means consumers are automatically charged unless they cancel those services.
  • Despite promising that consumers could “cancel anytime,” Cerebral required its clients to navigate a complex, multi-step, and often multi-day process to cancel.
  • The complaint alleges that the company continued to charge consumers while it slow-walked consumers’ cancellation requests, which cost consumers millions in additional charges.
  • The proposed order, which must be approved by a federal court before it can go into effect, only applies to Cerebral.
  • The Commission voted 3-0 to refer the complaint against Cerebral and Robertson and a stipulated final order with Cerebral to the Department of Justice for filing.
  • The DOJ filed the complaint and stipulated order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

EU-US Hold Fourth Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 12, 2024
Civil service commission, Face, Assistant, Intelligence, Social media, Artificial intelligence, Policy, News, AI, DOJ, Investment, Justice, Cloud computing, European Commission, European, Federal Trade Commission, FTC

Today, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, and European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager met in Washington for the fourth meeting of the EU-US Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue (TCPD) to continue work on cooperation in ensuring and promoting fair competition in the digital economy.

Key Points: 
  • Today, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, and European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager met in Washington for the fourth meeting of the EU-US Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue (TCPD) to continue work on cooperation in ensuring and promoting fair competition in the digital economy.
  • The fast-moving technology sector raises global challenges such as regarding artificial intelligence and cloud computing more broadly.
  • The three authorities have agreed on the importance of continuing their close collaboration in the framework of the TCPD to ensure fair competition in the technology sector.
  • The Federal Trade Commission works with counterpart agencies to promote sound antitrust, consumer protection, and data privacy enforcement and policy.

EU-US Hold Fourth Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 12, 2024
Civil service commission, Face, Assistant, Intelligence, Social media, Artificial intelligence, Policy, News, AI, DOJ, Investment, Justice, Cloud computing, European Commission, European, Federal Trade Commission, FTC

Today, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, and European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager met in Washington for the fourth meeting of the EU-US Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue (TCPD) to continue work on cooperation in ensuring and promoting fair competition in the digital economy.

Key Points: 
  • Today, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, and European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager met in Washington for the fourth meeting of the EU-US Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue (TCPD) to continue work on cooperation in ensuring and promoting fair competition in the digital economy.
  • The fast-moving technology sector raises global challenges such as regarding artificial intelligence and cloud computing more broadly.
  • The three authorities have agreed on the importance of continuing their close collaboration in the framework of the TCPD to ensure fair competition in the technology sector.
  • The Federal Trade Commission works with counterpart agencies to promote sound antitrust, consumer protection, and data privacy enforcement and policy.

Alcohol Addiction Treatment Firm will be Banned from Disclosing Health Data for Advertising to Settle FTC Charges that It Shared Data Without Consent

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 12, 2024
GoodRx, Consumer protection, Accountability Act, District court, Meta, Social media, Blog, News, Disclosure, DOJ, Commission, HIPAA, Complaint, Data collection, Advertising, IP, Justice, BetterHelp, API, File, Monument, Privacy, Government, Physician, IDS, Federal Trade Commission, FTC

The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against an alcohol addiction treatment service for allegedly disclosing users’ personal health data to third-party advertising platforms, including Meta and Google, for advertising without consumer consent, after promising to keep such information confidential.

Key Points: 
  • The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against an alcohol addiction treatment service for allegedly disclosing users’ personal health data to third-party advertising platforms, including Meta and Google, for advertising without consumer consent, after promising to keep such information confidential.
  • As part of a proposed order settling the FTC allegations, New York-based Monument, Inc. will be banned from disclosing health information for advertising and must obtain users’ affirmative consent before sharing health information with third parties for any other purpose.
  • “This action continues the FTC’s work to ensure strict limits on how firms handle sensitive health data, rather than putting the onus on consumers to protect themselves,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
  • Monument used these pixels and APIs to track “standard” and “custom events,” meaning instances in which consumers interacted with Monument’s website.
  • If the company is found to have misrepresented its finances, it will be required to pay the full amount.
  • The Commission voted 3-0 to refer the complaint and stipulated final order to the Department of Justice for filing.
  • The DOJ filed the complaint and stipulated order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Cummins, Inc. Long-Term Shareholder Announcement: Johnson Fistel, LLP Encourages Investors to Reach Out For More Information

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Environment, SAN, Public, LLP, DOJ, CMI, EPA, Justice

If you have continuously owned Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) shares, you have certain legal rights as a shareholder.

Key Points: 
  • If you have continuously owned Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) shares, you have certain legal rights as a shareholder.
  • The company agreed to pay a substantial $1.675 billion civil penalty for its actions.
  • California Attorney General Rob Bonta emphasized that Cummins knowingly evaded state emissions tests and requirements, causing harm to public health and the environment.
  • This penalty represents the largest amount ever recovered by the DOJ under the Clean Air Act and is the second-largest environmental penalty secured.