U.S. Government Accountability Office Report on AI Privacy Risks

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a report concerning privacy risks associated with utilizing AI in the federal government.  The privacy risks raised by experts include:

 

Risks Associated with Protecting Privacy When Using AI

The experts identified 10 key risks related to privacy when using AI, including potential invasions of privacy from data aggregation and the use of data for purposes exceeding what was originally intended. Table 1 identifies the 10 risks and associated descriptions.

Table 1: Expert-Identified Risks Associated with Protecting Privacy When Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Risk name	Associated risk description
Data persistence	Data may continue to exist in AI systems and be difficult to extract/remove once collected.
Data re-identification	AI has the ability to cross-reference multiple data sets from seemingly independent and anonymous outputs to reidentify anonymized data.a
Generation of deceptive or inaccurate outputs	AI may be used to intentionally or unintentionally generate deceptive outputs (e.g., deepfakes) or inaccurate outputs (e.g., hallucinations)b that may result in harm towards individuals.
Improper disclosure	AI can reveal and cause improper sharing of individuals’ data when it infers additional sensitive information from raw data.
Increased accessibility to sensitive information	AI can make sensitive information more accessible to a wider audience (e.g., data brokers) than intended.
Invasion of privacy from data aggregation	AI may combine various pieces of data about a person to make inferences beyond what is explicitly captured in those data (e.g., social scoring),c which can invade an individuals’ personal space and solitude by revealing private information (e.g., health-related, financial, location).
Lack of security over data	Inadequate AI data requirements and storage practices can result in data breaches and improper access.
Lack of transparency related to data use	AI may be used without providing individuals with notice and control over how their data is being used.
Lack of transparency in AI model algorithmic decision-making	The workings of AI models could include decisions based on individual data that one is unaware of and that can lead to privacy risks.
Secondary use of data	The use of personal data for purposes other than originally intended can be exacerbated by AI’s ability to repurpose data.

 

U.S. Government Accounting Office Releases Report on FinTech

The U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) has issued a report titled, “Financial Technology: Information on Subsectors and Regulatory Oversight.”  The GAO Report provides a description of the FinTech industry broken down by sector.  The sectors include: Marketplace Lending; Mobile Payments; Digital Wealth Management; and Distributed Ledger Technology.  For each sector, the Report describes “what it is and how it works”; “who uses it”; “potential benefits”; “potential risks”; “industry trends” and “oversight and regulation.”  The introduction to the Report states:

Advances in technology and the widespread use of the Internet and mobile communication devices have helped fuel the growth in financial technology (fintech) products and services. Consumer access to these new technologies has resulted in changes in their preferences and expectations regarding how they conduct financial transactions, such as using their smartphones to make payments or purchases. Fintech products and services include small business financing, education refinancing, mobile wallets, virtual currencies, and platforms to connect investors and start-ups.

There is no universal definition of fintech. It is also difficult to quantify the size of the industry because data are not separately reported from existing financial services or products’ data, and because the industry is constantly evolving. Traditional financial service firms also provide fintech products or services (e.g., existing financial services firms introducing fintech products and services). The fintech industry is generally described in terms of subsectors that have or are likely to have the greatest impact on traditional financial services, such as credit and payments.

The Report is a helpful overview of FinTech and more reports are supposedly on the way.  Hopefully, a report on IP and FinTech will be released.