Northwest Academy 1208 SW 13th Ave, 2nd floor Portland, OR

Sunshine Week is a national initiative started in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors. It was established with the goal of bringing awareness to the public about government transparency and freedom of information. The week coincides with the birthday of James Madison, who was a key proponent of the Bill of Rights and of governmental checks and balances. He was born on March 16th, and this year, Sunshine Week takes place March 15 - 21.

Robin Ryan will join us this month to share ways to find hard-to-reach data about our government. She'll lead a workshop that guides us through a series of websites and other resources that reveal details that can help us shine light onto our government and keep it accountable.

This event will be a hands-on workshop, so please bring a laptop or tablet along with your ideas and questions!

We'll have snacks, and there will be an opportunity for networking afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Schedule: 6:00 PM: Doors 6:10 PM: Introductions 6:15 PM: Presentation

Speaker bio:

Robin Ryan identifies as an investigative reporter and radio journalist focused on issues of social and economic justice. The Transparency Tool Teach-in is a workshop inspired by Sunshine Week, an annual convergence held to promote transparency and accountability in American government. The program is designed to show people how to navigate data-driven websites containing information on everything from money in politics to governmental spending from the hyper-local to the federal level. In the age of fake news, one immediate route to reliability means taking an active role in getting information unfiltered by editorial review.

By attending this TA3M meeting, you agree to follow our Code of Conduct: https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/

{short} Code of Conduct Portland's Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays is dedicated to providing an informative and positive experience for everyone who participates in or supports our community, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed.

Our events are intended to educate and share information related to technology and activism, and anyone who is there for this purpose is welcome. Because we value the safety and security of our members and strive to have an inclusive community, we do not tolerate harassment of members or event participants in any form.

Audio and video recording are not permitted at meetings without prior approval.

Our Code of Conduct (https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/) applies to all events run by Portland's TA3M. Please report any incidents to the event organizer.

Please note that this meeting is on the 3rd TUESDAY this month because of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on Monday! Doors open at 6:00 PM and will be monitored for access until 6:20 PM

Facial recognition technologies are now being implemented around the world. While some uses of facial recognition, like unlocking your phone, may be convenient, others allow your facial information to be collected, used, and shared, without your knowledge or consent. Both governments and companies are now getting in on the act, often with little to no oversight or rules in place. In addition to these transparency issues, facial recognition software programs have varying degrees of accuracy and have been shown to be less reliable when analyzing people of color, women, and children.

Because of this facial recognition free-for-all, and due to the fact that our faces cannot easily be changed, some cities, including San Francisco, Oakland, and Somerville, MA, have banned government agencies from using facial recognition. Portland city officials are also considering a facial recognition ban and are exploring going a step further in order to address use by private entities as well.

Smart City PDX is preparing two separate ordinances — one for public agencies and another for private entities — and both are tentatively scheduled for City Council hearings this spring. You can view a draft of the public version at https://www.dropbox.com/s/z989uxauygd0svr/Facial%20Recognition%20Ordinance%20City%20use%20%20-%20first%20public%20draft%20-%20November%208%202019.pdf

Hector Dominguez, the Open Data Coordinator at Smart City PDX, within Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, is working with other city officials to develop the proposed facial recognition ban legislation. At the meeting, he’ll share with us the details of what's currently in the ordinance drafts and will also explain how these rules, if passed, will work.

Bring your questions and join the discussion! We'll have snacks, and there will be an opportunity for networking afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Schedule: 6:00 PM: Doors 6:10 PM: Introductions 6:15 PM: Presentation

Speaker bio:

Hector Dominguez is the Open Data Coordinator at the City of Portland. In 2009, Portland became the first city in the United States to adopt an Open Data Resolution to encourage the expansion of the technological community by promoting open data and partnerships between City government and the public, private and nonprofit sectors, academia, and labor.

By attending this TA3M meeting, you agree to follow our Code of Conduct: https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/

{short} Code of Conduct Portland's Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays is dedicated to providing an informative and positive experience for everyone who participates in or supports our community, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed.

Our events are intended to educate and share information related to technology and activism, and anyone who is there for this purpose is welcome. Because we value the safety and security of our members and strive to have an inclusive community, we do not tolerate harassment of members or event participants in any form.

Audio and video recording are not permitted at meetings without prior approval.

Our Code of Conduct (https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/) applies to all events run by Portland's TA3M. Please report any incidents to the event organizer.

Note: This meeting starts at 6:30 PM, later than our normal time. Doors will be monitored for access until 6:40 PM. If you arrive after that time, please post a note to the meeting page on Meetup, and we'll work to respond and let you in.

Reporters regularly bring us breaking news about government activities, including acts of malfeasance. They, of course, get tips from sources but also rely greatly on information found in public records requests. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was enacted in 1966 to make government more transparent so journalists and the general public could hold the government accountable for its actions.

Surprisingly, though, the news media accounts for less than 10% of all FOIA requests![1] The largest three categories of requestors are businesses, individuals, and law firms, but other groups, such as universities and non-profits, also file requests.

The basic purpose of the act is to ensure an informed citizenry, which is vital to the functioning of a democratic society. While FOIA only applies to federal records, each state has its own laws and processes related to public records, and Oregon is no exception.

Getting started in submitting public records requests can be intimidating. What exactly is a public record, and how does an individual request one? Are there fees involved? What options are available if a request is denied?

The people at Lucy Parsons Labs have filed many requests for records, uncovering corruption and other wrongdoing in the Chicago area, and are willing to share their experiences and expertise with us! At this meeting, LPL's Community Organizing Chair will speak to us via teleconference and share tools and tips for submitting requests so we can keep government agencies both transparent and accountable to the people.

Join us for a great presentation and discussion about FOIA and public records requests! We'll have snacks, and there will be an opportunity for networking afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Schedule: 6:20 PM: Doors 6:30 PM: Introductions 6:35 PM: Presentation

Speaker bio:

Lucy Parsons Labs is a charitable Chicago-based collaboration between data scientists, transparency activists, artists, and technologists that sheds light on the intersection of digital rights and on-the-streets issues.

1. Schouten, Cory (March 17, 2017). "Who files the most FOIA requests? It's not who you think". Columbia Journalism Review: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/foia-report-media-journalists-business-mapper.php

By attending this TA3M meeting, you agree to follow our Code of Conduct: https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/

{short} Code of Conduct Portland's Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays is dedicated to providing an informative and positive experience for everyone who participates in or supports our community, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed.

Our events are intended to educate and share information related to technology and activism, and anyone who is there for this purpose is welcome. Because we value the safety and security of our members and strive to have an inclusive community, we do not tolerate harassment of members or event participants in any form.

Audio and video recording are not permitted at meetings without prior approval.

Our Code of Conduct (https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/) applies to all events run by Portland's TA3M. Please report any incidents to the event organizer.

Companies and governments increasingly deploy intelligent systems to the real world. These systems—depending on the design and purpose—have the capacity to either greatly enhance the general well-being of the world or bring about some form of a science fiction dystopia.

Sean McGregor, who will speak to us via teleconference, will cover both aspects of these systems in equal measure. First, he'll share examples of leading-edge "AI for Good" research. Then, he'll guide us through some real-world harms caused by deployed AI systems as explored from the AI Incident Database now under development with the Partnership on AI. Sean will then wrap up the talk with a discussion of current opportunities and risks in the development of AI systems for the general welfare.

Join us for a great presentation and discussion! We'll have snacks, and there will be an opportunity for networking afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Speaker bio:

Sean defended his machine learning PhD at Oregon State University with research projects at the intersection of reinforcement learning and public policy. He now focuses on solving real-world problems with machine learning and visual analytics, including problems in wildfire suppression, heliophysics, and analog neural network computation.

Outside of his research, Sean serves as technical lead for the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, chair of the Partnership on AI expert group for Safety Critical AI, and member of the Fair, Transparent, and Accountable (FTA) expert group. Sean's "day job" is developing neural networks to run on analog architectures at Syntiant. Outside of his paid work, Sean co-founded the Portland TA3M, a series of workshops at major academic AI conferences on the topic of "AI for Good," and a now defunct non-profit dedicated to privacy education, the Privly Foundation.

By attending this TA3M meeting, you agree to follow our Code of Conduct: https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/

{short} Code of Conduct Portland's Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays is dedicated to providing an informative and positive experience for everyone who participates in or supports our community, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed.

Our events are intended to educate and share information related to technology and activism, and anyone who is there for this purpose is welcome. Because we value the safety and security of our members and strive to have an inclusive community, we do not tolerate harassment of members or event participants in any form.

Audio and video recording are not permitted at meetings without prior approval.

Our Code of Conduct (https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/) applies to all events run by Portland's TA3M. Please report any incidents to the event organizer.

Please note that this meeting starts at 7:00 PM! Doors will be monitored for access until 7:20 PM

Join us for a combined meeting with TA3M Seattle!

Geeks Without Bounds (GWOB) is a humanitarian organization of technologists, first responders, policymakers, and volunteers that works towards improving access to communication and technology. With a focus on working with communities that have limited infrastructure due to violence, negligence, or catastrophe, GWOB organizes hack-a-thons for humanitarian technology, and helps prototype projects intended to turn into long-term initiatives through their Accelerator for Humanitarian Projects.

Lisha Sterling, executive director of GWOB, recently returned to Washington state from the US-Mexico border. She'll be talking to our groups about her month in Tijuana supporting Al Otro Lado and Frontline Wellness United, and ongoing technology projects supporting the health and legal rights of asylum seekers. We'll join her talk via teleconference.

Join us for a great presentation! We'll have snacks, and there will be an opportunity for networking afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Speaker bio:

Lisha Sterling is executive director of Geeks Without Bounds, which was formed in October 2010.

By attending this TA3M meeting, you agree to follow our Code of Conduct: https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/

{short} Code of Conduct Portland's Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays is dedicated to providing an informative and positive experience for everyone who participates in or supports our community, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed.

Our events are intended to educate and share information related to technology and activism, and anyone who is there for this purpose is welcome. Because we value the safety and security of our members and strive to have an inclusive community, we do not tolerate harassment of members or event participants in any form.

Audio and video recording are not permitted at meetings without prior approval.

Our Code of Conduct (https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/) applies to all events run by Portland's TA3M. Please report any incidents to the event organizer.

In today's news, we see plenty of stories about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the world. There are many potential benefits to be gained from AI, but there are also a number of concerns about how it will affect our lives moving into the future. What exactly is artificial intelligence anyway?

In 1986, the mathematician and philosopher Gian-Carlo Rota wrote, “I wonder whether or when artificial intelligence will ever crash the barrier of meaning.” Here, the phrase “barrier of meaning” refers to a belief about humans versus machines. Humans are able to “actually understand” the situations they encounter, whereas AI systems (at least current ones) do not possess such understanding. The internal representations learned by (or programmed into) AI systems do not capture the rich “meanings” that humans bring to bear in perception, language, and reasoning.

In this talk, Melanie Mitchell, a professor of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Portland State University, will assess the state of the art of artificial intelligence in several domains and describe some of their current limitations and vulnerabilities, which can be accounted for by a lack of true understanding of the domains they work in.

Audience participation in the discussion will be encouraged, and together, we'll explore the following questions:

- To be reliable in human domains, what do AI systems actually need to “understand”?
- Which domains require human-like understanding?
- What does such understanding entail?

Join us for a great presentation and discussion about artificial intelligence! We'll have snacks, and there will be an opportunity for networking afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Schedule:

6:00 PM: Doors

6:10 PM: Introductions

6:15 PM: Presentation

Speaker bio:

Melanie Mitchell is Professor of Computer Science at Portland State University, and External Professor and Member of the Science Board at the Santa Fe Institute. She attended Brown University, where she majored in mathematics and did research in astronomy, and the University of Michigan, where she received a Ph.D. in computer science, Her dissertation, in collaboration with her advisor Douglas Hofstadter, was the development of Copycat, a computer program that makes analogies. She has held faculty or professional positions at the University of Michigan, the Santa Fe Institute, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the OGI School of Science and Engineering, and Portland State University.

She is the author or editor of five books and over 80 scholarly papers in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and complex systems. Her most recent book, Complexity: A Guided Tour, published in 2009 by Oxford University Press, is the winner of the 2010 Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Award. It was also named by Amazon.com as one of the ten best science books of 2009 and was long-listed for the Royal Society's 2010 book prize. Melanie originated the Santa Fe Institute's Complexity Explorer online education program, which offers online courses and other educational resources related to the field of complex systems.

By attending this TA3M meeting, you agree to follow our Code of Conduct: https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/

{short} Code of Conduct Portland's Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays is dedicated to providing an informative and positive experience for everyone who participates in or supports our community, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed.

Our events are intended to educate and share information related to technology and activism, and anyone who is there for this purpose is welcome. Because we value the safety and security of our members and strive to have an inclusive community, we do not tolerate harassment of members or event participants in any form.

Audio and video recording are not permitted at meetings without prior approval.

Our Code of Conduct (https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/) applies to all events run by Portland's TA3M. Please report any incidents to the event organizer.

Note: Doors will be monitored for access until 6:20 PM. If you arrive later, please post a note to the meeting page on Meetup, and we'll work to respond and let you in.

Cities around the world are using data to become more efficient and to better meet the needs of their residents. The problem, though, is that as more and more information is gathered, cities may be inadvertently surveilling their populations. Additionally, improper storage and handling of collected data can lead to theft or other losses. The good news is that the City of Portland is working to protect your data and your privacy!

Hector Dominguez, the Open Data Coordinator at Smart City PDX, within Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, is working with other city groups, and even groups from other cities, to determine the best policies and practices for privacy and data protection in Portland. The result of their work is a set of privacy and information principles to be approved by Portland City Council and then implemented as citywide policy.

In this interactive presentation, Hector will review the privacy and information principles as well as the impacts on both city services and the various communities within the city.

Join us for a great presentation and discussion about privacy in Portland, how the privacy and information principles will affect you, and how you can help! We'll have snacks, and there will be an opportunity for networking afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Schedule:

6:00 PM: Doors

6:10 PM: Introductions

6:15 PM: Presentation

Speaker bio:

Hector Dominguez is the Open Data Coordinator at the City of Portland. In 2009, Portland became the first city in the United States to adopt an Open Data Resolution to encourage the expansion of the technological community by promoting open data and partnerships between City government and the public, private and nonprofit sectors, academia, and labor.

By attending this TA3M meeting, you agree to follow our Code of Conduct: https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/

{short} Code of Conduct Portland's Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays is dedicated to providing an informative and positive experience for everyone who participates in or supports our community, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed.

Our events are intended to educate and share information related to technology and activism, and anyone who is there for this purpose is welcome. Because we value the safety and security of our members and strive to have an inclusive community, we do not tolerate harassment of members or event participants in any form.

Audio and video recording are not permitted at meetings without prior approval.

Our Code of Conduct (https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/) applies to all events run by Portland's TA3M. Please report any incidents to the event organizer.

Note: This meeting will start at 7:00 PM, NOT at our usual time. Doors will be monitored for access until 7:20 PM. If you arrive later, please post a note to the meeting page on Meetup, and we'll work to respond and let you in.

Join us for a combined meeting with Seattle TA3M!

Details about the meeting location and parking are listed at the end.

You are probably in a criminal face recognition network.

Did you know that half of US adults are in a face-recognition database? If you live in Oregon or Washington state, your face data is stored in your state's driver license database. Both states use facial recognition software to prevent driver license fraud and neither currently shares their databases with law enforcement. But what if that changes?

Facial recognition can be useful for some things, like unlocking our phones, but companies and governments can also use the technology for their own purposes — without our consent. While the technology has made great advances in accuracy, many programs still have difficulty with darker faces, women, and children. And a number of questions still exist in other areas including privacy, consent, discrimination, and whether the technology will be used for general, suspicionless surveillance.

Clare Garvie and her colleagues at Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy and Technology did a year-long investigation on police use of facial recognition, and the result of their research is a paper called "The Perpetual Line-Up: Unregulated Police Face Recognition in America" (https://www.perpetuallineup.org/). She'll share insights from the study and tell us how the information has already been put to use in shaping policy for the use of facial recognition technology by government. She'll be speaking to both groups, Seattle TA3M and us, via teleconference.

Join us for a great presentation and discussion about facial recognition! We'll have snacks, and there will be an opportunity for networking afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Schedule:

6:55 PM: Doors

7:00 PM: Introductions

7:10 PM: Presentation

Speaker bio:

Clare Garvie joined the Center on Privacy and Technology as a Law Fellow after graduating from Georgetown Law in 2015, and now serves as a Senior Associate. In 2016, she was lead author of The Perpetual Line-Up: Unregulated Police Face Recognition in America. Her current research continues to focus on the use of face recognition by law enforcement and the ways activists, public defenders, and policymakers can ensure the technology is under control. Prior to entering law school, she worked in human rights and international criminal law with the International Center for Transitional Justice. She received her B.A. from Barnard College in political science, human rights, and psychology. You can follow her on Twitter at @clareangelyn.

By attending this TA3M meeting, you agree to follow our Code of Conduct: https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/

{short} Code of Conduct Portland's Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays is dedicated to providing an informative and positive experience for everyone who participates in or supports our community, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed.

Our events are intended to educate and share information related to technology and activism, and anyone who is there for this purpose is welcome. Because we value the safety and security of our members and strive to have an inclusive community, we do not tolerate harassment of members or event participants in any form.

Audio and video recording are not permitted at meetings without prior approval.

Our Code of Conduct (https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/) applies to all events run by Portland's TA3M. Please report any incidents to the event organizer.