Hashtag Today is about big brother watching over UK citizens, YouTube moderators allegedly being forced into acknowledging PTSD as a health hazard, and the delay of Sidewalk Lab’s smart city in Toronto.
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Thank you for tuning in to Hashtag Trending, it’s Monday, January 27th, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
Trending on Google, United Kingdom has deployed facial recognition cameras to catch criminals. In a controversial move, the London Metropolitan Police said that it would initially focus on a small, targeted area, but did specify where. With that said, the MET said it would clearly indicate where these cameras are, and officers would inform its citizens via pamphlets. The goal is to monitor serious crime, but civil liberty groups have expressed disapproval towards the new method, calling it an expansion of the surveillance state.
Trending on Reddit, YouTube moderators are allegedly being forced into acknowledging PTSD as a work hazard. According to an investigation by The Verge, Accenture, a company YouTube has contracted to monitor its content, has a clear section in a worker document highlighting that the job could lead to PTSD. It directs the employee to report mental health issues to supervisors and provides some wellness resources. While the document indicated that signing the document is voluntary, The Verge said that two current employees said that they’d be fired if they didn’t. Following their statement, The Verge reached out to law employment experts, who told them that the requirement to disclose mental health to their employers could be viewed as illegal.
Trending on Reddit, Waterfront Toronto has delayed the deadline for deciding the fate of Quayside smart city by Sidewalk Labs. The new deadline is now May 20, nearly a month from the original March 31st deadline. According to the directors, the deadline was extended to gather more opinions from the public. Toronto’s Quayside smart city project has been under fire for potential privacy issues due to the massive amount of data it will collect.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Tom Li, thanks for listening.