21/28 December 2019 | New Scientist | 23

Denisovans

Researchers announced the

discovery of a human finger bone

that is genetically distinct both from

modern humans and Neanderthals

in 2010, complicating our ancestral

story. They named this new species

the Denisovans, after Denisova cave

in Siberia, Russia, where the bone

W

ITH record fines dished out over tech
firms’ use of personal data, and their
public images becoming increasingly
tarnished, this was the year the world
started to turn against its tech giants.
At the beginning of 2019, France’s
National Commission on Informatics and
Liberty hit Google with a €50 million fine
for lack of valid consent and transparency
around personalised ads. In October,
Facebook agreed to pay a fine of £500,000
to the UK Information Commissioner’s
Office for failing to protect users’ personal
information relating to the Cambridge
Analytica scandal. Although the firm
didn’t admit fault over data misuse, this
is the largest fine that could be issued.
Amazon, Apple and Facebook all faced
criticism this year over revelations that
staff and contractors had listened to audio
recordings of people speaking to virtual
assistants Alexa and Siri, and voice chats
recorded on Facebook Messenger.
The issue extends to children, too. Video-
sharing app TikTok, popular among people
under 25, was fined $5.7 million by the US
Federal Trade Commission for collecting
personal data from children under 13.
“People have started to care more
about data privacy, but there’s still an
overwhelming sense of helplessness,” says
Aaron Roth at the University of Maryland.

“Most people just shrug and seem

to accept that they are powerless,” says

Stephanie Hare, author of the forthcoming

book Technology Ethics. “In a way, they are,

because there are not many privacy-

enhancing alternatives.”

While there are some options for people

who care about data privacy, such as the

search engine DuckDuckGo, which doesn’t

personalise its search results by profiling

its users, there is a real lack of competition.

“We are seeing big tech operating

essentially as a cartel,” says Hare.

The European commissioner for

competition, Margrethe Vestager, has

enacted antitrust measures to regulate

the tech industry, and 2020 US Democratic

presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren

has indicated an intention to break up

big tech. In the UK, there has been little in

the way of legislation to date, despite eight

parliamentary inquiries and four reviews

into internet regulation.

Tech companies are unlikely to

capitulate. They would much rather pay

the occasional fine than be forced to stop

collecting our data, says Hare. ❚

Trends of 2019

Big tech’s inevitable

fall from grace

A cavalier approach to personal data is fuelling a backlash

against the major tech firms, reports Donna Lu

The spacecraft

LightSail 2,

which launched

on 25 June

2019, has sails

thinner than

a human hair.

These sails

have a total

surface area

of 32 square

metres, and

enabled the

craft to become

the first to

demonstrate a

controlled solar

sailing in orbit

around Earth

Donna Lu is a New Scientist

reporter based in London, covering

how technology affects the world

was found. Later discoveries in

the cave included more remains of

these mysterious people, including

the 2018 announcement of a

hybrid with a Neanderthal mother

and a Denisovan father. Genetic

analyses have also revealed that

there are people today carrying

some Denisovan DNA.

Just 15

characteristics,

such as age,

gender or

marital status,

are enough

to reidentify

99.98 per cent

of people in

the US in

virtually any

anonymised

data set

06