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PATTERNS IN RANDOMNESS By Shane V. M. Greene “A person does not need to be identified in order for their autonomy to be undermined or their dignity to be damaged...If an individual has not been ‘identified’ by an organization, but has only been ‘singled out’, how could the individual verify themselves such as to exercise their access or correction rights against that organization? The answer is they can’t.” - Anna Johnston A “PATTERN IN RANDOMNESS,” on its’ face, seems an oxymoron, a paradox — but is it? Could there be an “unseen hand” at work in the lives and affairs of humans? Intelligent Design, “The Hand of God,” or in a more nefarious context, “An Underhand?’ Is it possible to identify patterns in seemingly random events and data? Patterns not influenced by personal choices — be it good or bad? The following essay is not entirely my own...let me explain. It is an idea of mine. I am surrendering my finished essay to AI — Artificial Intelligence in the form of : “CHAT-GPT.” The nonsensical idea of patterns in randomness, as my good friend who is a mathematician describes it, has been stuck in my mind for some time. I cannot seem to shake this nagging sense within my psyche - a sixth sense/Déja vu — that somehow I was experiencing repetitive scenarios in my life — coincidences — following an almost predictable pattern or design. However, was there actually something behind it? I know, sounds kind of “out there.” Except, one day while researching the psychological concept of: INDIVIDUATION - The integrating of the best/worst of ourselves with the outcome of better overall mental health - I stumbled upon an alternate definition of individuation as it relates to data privacy protections - or lack thereof. Anna Johnston in her paper titled: Individuation: Re- Imagining Data Privacy Laws to Protect Against Digital Harms, states: “From the digital breadcrumbs we leave behind in the form of geolocation data shed from our mobile devices, TO THE PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR we exhibit online as we browse, click, comment, shop, share and ‘like’, we can be tracked. Tracked; then profiled; and finally targeted...all without the party doing the tracking, profiling or targeting needing to know ‘who’ we are. ' Now, this is the exact “blue pill/red pill rabbit hole” I had been searching for! I am currently incarcerated. I am no stranger to surveillance, monitoring and control. I am a writer, reasonably well read, and have as I said, been dogged by this thought of there being unrecognized patterns affecting humanity. All of this started to gel in my consciousness as I noticed story after story about how Artificial Intelligence, Bots, and Algorithms were being utilized in every area of digital and personal information. Being incarcerated, this presents a formidable challenge for me. I am not privy to accessing much archival information needed to undertake such a writing project. Prison security concerns, an inability to present Freedom of Information Act requests (FOIA); and as a convicted felon, much information pertaining to my own person — although widely used and available to law 1. Individuation: Re-Imagining Data Privacy Laws to Protect Against Digital Harms; Anna Johnston, Principal of Salinger Privacy — Brussels Privacy Hub Working Paper, Vol. 6, No. 24 , July 2020. enforcement (Federal, State, and Local Agencies) — none of it is available to ME! Nearly all of it used to monitor, track and control me — and my outcomes! Now, back to my brainchild of an idea. Why not allow (AI) in the form of CHAT-GPT, to write an essay about how Artificial Intelligence is data mining information, and in some cases even predicting future behaviors and outcomes by amassing, storing, and analyzing personal data — thereby identifying patterns of human behavior that we are unaware of and have little control over. All, from seemed: random information and identifiers. In an article written by John and Nisha Whitehead on “Rutherford.org”: “You'd Better Watch Out’2 — we all should be certain we are being tracked based on: • Health Status — Whether or not we are insured, how much we pay or are covered for under what plan provider? (Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanente), and now in the advent of COVID-19, if we are vaccinated - or not. What about H7PPA confidential health information/records being compromised into the public domain? Prescription drugs and health issues related to: Insulin, high lipids, and hypertension? What about the possible stigma related to psychotropic drugs for mental illness? Over-the-counter pregnancy or abortion assistance after the overturning of Roe v. Wade? • Facial Recognition Technologies — The Electronic Frontier Foundation “EFF” at eff-org and from other sources like Albert Fox Cahn’s “Surveillance Technology Oversight Project”, and reason.com, all are warning of “unchecked” use of facial recognition. We MUST presume we are being surveilled at all times. Peaceful protestors are being targeted and there are high error rates for algorithm driven identification...particularly of black men.3 • Your behavior, public activities, social media activity, and your social network - One smart “anti-riot” surveillance system predicts mass riots and unauthorized events by analyzing social media, video surveillance, and public transit information. In 2018 Facebook warned the LAPD to cease using fake profiles to arrest and entrap individuals. In 2019 The New York Times and The Guardian, both broke news of invasive and unconstitutional “Geofence Warrants.”4 (Tons of personal data willingly submitted to: Instagram, What’sApp?, Tik Tok, Meta/Facebook Groups.) • Your spending and consumer activities... AND THE INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT).5 Everything, from your Netflix and other streaming services, Doordash food delivery, Uber Eats and ride share services, Ring Doorbell Camera (Next Door footage), Amazon 2 “You'd Better Watch Out: The Surveillance State Has a Naughty List, and You’re On It”, John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead 3 The ACLU reveals the California Highway Patrol using cameras to identify peaceful protestors, techdirt.com; and vice.com and daytondailynews.com report that those opposed to prison construction in Greene County, OH. were monitored and targeted by architects, city commissioners, and civil engineering firms for opposing their building and bond measures to pay for construction costs. 4 Hawk Analytics uses keyword searches and Google’s API’s to give police access to everything including geo-location information. 5 “Every connected device is capable of being a sensor, and monitoring its’ users. Even the peak industry body for The Internet of Things manufacturers has argued that while data collection might not be considered personal data in isolation, in combination the data can ‘yield highly personal information such as home occupancy and a wide range of behaviors’.” - IoT Alliance Australia, Submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Digital Platforms Inquiry, 15 February 2019, p.1 purchases, Banking/Money apps like: Rocket Money, Chime, CashApp, Venmo, Zelle and their connections to our banking account and routing numbers! Not to mention the looming prospect of the Federal Reserve Bank’s introduction of a new “Digital Currency.” Spy plane surveillance by The California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), used to track movement in cars under the auspices of rooting out drug and human trafficking. Hackers breaching security camera footage in 2021 at a Silicon Valley startup: Verkada, Inc. as reported by Bloomberg News. Also in 2021, The Intercept online publication, has investigated and brought to light numerous spying technologies, software tools and AI currently being used. Some of the manufacturers, License agreements, governments and private industries are selling these products without any oversight at all! They include: Pegasus, email and encryption cracking software; Stingray, creates a fake cell tower signal tricking and capturing a mobile devices signaling frequencies; Shadow Dragon, a Wyoming company in partnership with Microsoft: Shadow Dragon, Microsoft Azure, Kaseware, SocialNet, OI Monitor — Firms that exploit ”Open Source Intelligence” (OSINT) thereby tracking trails of information left behind on the internet and in browser history data. All have capabilities to investigate persons, run searches on: names, addresses, phone numbers, emails; ascertain “lifestyles” and analyze your broader network of friends. Corporations can build entire dossiers of attack patterns, of things people say that’s bad or threatening...O/ Monitor actually has a video on its’ webpage: “Predicting Violence” — indicators disguised to search out and find unrest and violence BEFORE they start! Have the fictional portrayals of “PRE-CRIME” detection in the film “MINORITY REPORT” and the Artificial Intelligence and machine learning gone amok in “The Terminator’s — SKYNET,” have they now become reality? Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” is upon us! Is machine learning now, SELF AWARE? Self aware enough that “IT” can protect itself from us and any attempt at critical examination or inquiry? We have virtually NO privacy protections from these powerful technologies. When Shadow Dragon, SocialNet, OI Monitor and Microsoft Azure responded to a FOIA request; it was partially denied, citing exemptions to protect: “trade secrets, or financial or proprietary information,” “Protect the security and safety of person or property, or the confidentiality, and integrity of information systems.” NSO Group, an Israeli company responded similarly to requests at a hearing in Europe on privacy concerns of journalists being hacked by its’ Pegasus “product.” I am curious, as I hope you are also, to see what “CHAT-GPT” will produce when tasked with investigating itself! What can GPT ZERO an analytical tool do to scrutinize CHAT-GPT? Who is guarding the guardians? 6 Michael Kwet, Criminal Legal News; Mara Hvistendahl and Sam Biddle; The Intercept.
