Podcasts about discussion paper

What gives a life meaning? Is it about health, friends, family or something else? Do rich people have more meaningful lives than poor people? Do we find meaning in success or problems and failures too? During the Great Depression, the US Government Federal Writers' Project dispatched a team of writers across the US with a simple brief: talk to people about their lives. The archive that they created, called American Life Histories, tells us what thousands of people across the US found meaningful in their lives. A new project uses artificial intelligence to discover what these documents reveal about the meaning of life. David Lagakos of Boston University, and Hans-Joachim Voth of the University of Zurich are two of the authors. They talk to Tim Phillips about what they discovered, and the message for those of us who seek meaning in our lives today.  Read the Discussion Paper https://cepr.org/publications/dp19885 American Life histories at the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/collections/federal-writers-project/about-this-collection/

Employers for Change is an Open Doors Initiative programme dedicated to helping businesses of all sizes navigate the world of disability, inclusion and confidence. Through engaging conversations with experts, we tackle common misconceptions and dive deep into the latest technology, policy and best practices that can transform your company's culture.In this episode, Mohamed speaks to Siobhan Long from Enable Ireland to discuss how businesses can leverage Assistive Technology to break down barriers and better include individuals with disabilities in the workplace. Siobhan has worked in the field of Assistive Technology since 1991. Siobhan's current role involves management of Enable Ireland's National Assistive Technology Training Service. Technology is changing rapidly and the services's  goal is to ensure that those who can benefit from what it has to offer, can gain access to it in a timely manner. In 2016, Siobhan began a partnership with the Disability Federation of Ireland, resulting in the publication of Assistive Technology for People with Disabilities and Older People: A Discussion Paper. This partnership is now called FreedomTech, and a key component of this partnership is CHAT: Community Hub for Assistive Technology, a community of practice which involves a wide range of stakeholders and meets at least 3 times/year. Siobhán has been working intensively on an advocacy and lobbying programme, to promote the adoption of the recommendations contained in the Discussion Paper. Chief among these are the establishment of a national AT Passport, to address the significant gaps in service provision as AT users transition through life. Enable Ireland and the Disability Federation of Ireland are now leading a partnership project to pilot an AT Passport.Employers for Change is a programme of the Open Doors Initiative, funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The service empowers employers with all the information and advice needed to hire, employ, manage and retain staff with disabilities.Contact Employers for Change at info@employersforchange.ie or check our website for more information 

Can competition law save humanity? Over the past two years, Fiona Schaeffer has spurred on the lawyers, regulators, and economists of the ABA Antitrust Law Section to examine the role that antitrust law has, or potentially will have, in dealing with the existential challenges posed by climate change and the rise of artificial intelligence. In this episode, co-hosts Alicia Downey and Anora Wang talk with Fiona about why she chose to focus attention on these two issues during her recent term as Section Chair, and the insights that listeners should take away from the Section's work to date. With special guest: Fiona Schaeffer, Milbank LLP Related Links: Joint Section Comments on the Canadian Competition Bureau's Discussion Paper on Artificial Intelligence and Competition (July 9, 2024) Report on Competition Law and Sustainability to the JFTC by the International Comments and Policy Committee (March 18, 2024) Joint Section Comments on the European Commission's Consultation on Generative AI (March 6, 2024) Hosted by: Alicia Downey, Downey Law LLC and Anora Wang, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

Join Nick Hanne, Jillian Heather, and Alex Penk for an FSU Talk on the recent Law Commission's discussion paper which examined the question of amending the Human Rights Act to include trans gender and intersex individuals as a protected class. These potential changes have significant implications for free speech and the weaponisation of a subjective definition of identity and also harm.Support the showhttps://www.fsu.nz/https://x.com/NZFreeSpeechhttps://www.instagram.com/freespeechnz/https://www.tiktok.com/@freespeechunionnz

Greyhound Racing Victoria has published a discussion paper seeking industry feedback, aimed to drive informed decision making on the sport's future infrastructure requirementsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new paper released by the NITI Aayog has claimed that multidimensional poverty (MDI) has declined from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23, and that 24.82 crore people “escaped” from multidimensional poverty during this 9-year period. Titled ‘Multidimensional Poverty in India since 2005-06: A Discussion Paper', the NITI Aayog report claims that India is well on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 1.2) of “halving multidimensional poverty” by 2030. The report also claims that various government initiatives such as Poshan Abhiyan, Anaemia Mukt Bharat and Ujjwala Yojana have played a major role in mitigating different forms of deprivation. On the face of it, India managing to reduce its poverty head count is a great achievement. But at the same time, development economists have been complaining about the increasing paucity in relevant data. Are Niti Aayog's claims based on hard data or are they projections? Does a reduction in multidimensional poverty headcount actually mean a reduction in poverty? And how do these claims square with India's worsening rank in the Global Hunger Index, for instance?

Welcome to the Fraudian Slip…the Identity Theft Resource Center's podcast, where we talk about all-things identity compromise, crime, and fraud that impact people and businesses. This month, we are focusing on our latest paper: The Biometric Working Group Discussion Paper. Follow on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/idtheftcenter/ Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/IDTheftCenter

Curious about the future of privacy in Australia? Join us as we delve into the world of privacy regulation in Australia. Our expert panel shares their thoughts on the Government's response to the Privacy Act Review Report.  It's a follow-up to episode #22 ‘Privacy is Not Dead'. Returning guest Anna Johnston, founder and Principal of Salinger Privacy, is joined by Ryan Black, Head of Policy for the Tech Council of Australia, and Kate Bower, a fellow at the UTS Human Technology Institute, currently on sabbatical from CHOICE as Consumer Data Advocate.     The panel discuss:   - highlights and gaps in the Government's response  - the definition of ‘personal information'  - the future of the small business and political exemptions   - legitimate business interests, fair and reasonable use tests, and best interest duties  - interoperability with international privacy frameworks  - privacy and artificial intelligence   - the urgency of reform   - what happens next    Relevant Links:    Salinger Privacy blog, including Anna Johnston's 2015 article about the need to reform the definition of personal information https://www.salingerprivacy.com.au/2015/04/19/bradley-coopers-taxi-ride-a-lesson-in-privacy-risk/    Arvind Narayanan's “No Silver Bullet “ paper about de-identification http://randomwalker.info/publications/no-silver-bullet-de-identification.pdf    Arvind Narayanan's AI Snake Oil Substack https://www.aisnakeoil.com    This Week in Digital Trust podcast, latest episode featuring an interview with Johanna https://elevenm.com.au/podcast/episode/86-johanna-weaver-the-future-of-tech-policy/    The Future of Privacy Forum https://fpf.org/    UTS Human Technology Institute's State of AI Governance report  https://www.uts.edu.au/human-technology-institute/news/report-launch-state-ai-governance-australia    DP-REG joint submission to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) consultation on the ‘Safe and responsible AI in Australia' Discussion Paper https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/media/media-updates/digital-platform-regulators-make-joint-submission-on-ai   US Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence | The White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/10/30/executive-order-on-the-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence/    UK's consultation on a Pro-Innovation Approach to AI - A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation - amended (web-ready PDF) (publishing.service.gov.uk)    The Bletchley Declaration by Countries Attending the AI Safety Summit (November 2023) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-safety-summit-2023-the-bletchley-declaration/the-bletchley-declaration-by-countries-attending-the-ai-safety-summit-1-2-november-2023    China Global AI Governance Initiative: http://gd.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zxhd_1/202310/t20231024_11167412.htm 

Hello, I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I've been thinking. Another month has gone and we are faced with the prospect of snow falling on inland Australia. It is such a rare event that it makes the news but we will have to see if it happens under the weather system that has wet so much of the continent. For we lucky Queenslanders, the new system that came down from the north west promises a wet start to the week for much of the State. However in the world of amateur radio, the big news of change is the Discussion Paper released by the UK Regulator, Ofcom. Amongst its various suggested changes is that power limits for the various licence grades be increased with the top level able to radiate the magic kilowatt, measured at the antenna. This would bring the United Kingdom cohort into line with many other jurisdictions including our friends in New Zealand. Now I find it ironic that the various regulators all claim to follow international standards for exposure to radiation but in this country it appears that the decisions of ARPANSA differ on the interpretation of the international standards and VK-land tops out at 400W. If so many other countries find the radiation from sources such as amateur radio are not a threat why is the iconic bronzed Aussie at so much risk? As they say on social media, just asking for a friend. I wonder how many clubs are getting prepared for the next events on the calendar? For that matter, I wonder how many shacks and portable stations are ready, too. With the strong possibility that we are heading into a La Nina event, the probable drier weather will be making it easier for outdoor activities, especially as we start to enter the warmer months. JOTA and Remembrance Day are two features of the event calendar each year and some forward planning certainly sets the scene for successful participation. They are only weeks away but we still have time for getting the stage set. In the past week there have been reports of conditions lifting with the New Caledonia repeater being received on the Sunshine Coast and ducting along the east coast. DX has been working well on the HF bands but with some strong atmospheric interference at times. The space weather reports have indicated that flares and sunspots are going to strongly influence operating conditions for a few more days, it seems. It is always a scramble to get skeds lined up for the JOTA stations to ensure the Scouts have the best experience of ham radio. Those people who will be running event stations can take this opportunity to send us a brief audio spot for inclusion in QNEWS to help people plan ahead. So enjoy your radio and until next week, I'm Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that's what I think....how about you? -------------------------------------------------------------------* 2023 Social Scene Clubs are welcome to submit text with audio for this section VK4 - SUNFEST - SEPTEMBER 9 (vk4an) At Mountain Creek State School's massive air conditioned auditorium, just off the Sunshine Motor Way. Mountain Creek s tucked in to the west of Mooloolaba VK - ALARAMeet2023 4/5 November in HOBART (luther8@bigpond.com) 2024 Social Scene VK - WIA AGM MAY - BUNDABERG. (vk2tsg)

In this week's issue of Sustainability Insights, we are looking at the prospect of yet more UK sustainability regulation and the UK's reaction.

In the first in our series of Regulation Tomorrow podcasts focusing on the future of asset management regulation in the UK, Hannah Meakin, Taher Ahmed and Anita Edwards discuss some of the macro-themes arising from the FCA's recent discussion paper, DP23/2, on the future of the UK's asset management regime.

In this episode, Johanna brings together a group of Australian privacy experts to discuss the Federal Government's Privacy Act Review and to share their perspectives on the reforms that have been proposed and what might happen next. Hot topics included the meaning and importance of privacy in the digital age, the scope of the Privacy Act, meaningful consent, data minimalization, deidentification, international harmonisation.     Guests this episode were Anna Johnston, founder and Principal of Salinger Privacy, a privacy consulting and advisory service, David Vaile, Chair of the Australian Privacy Foundation and Sunita Bose, Managing Director of DIGI, a not-for-profit industry association advocating for the digital industry.  Relevant Links:  UNICEF: Digital Age Assurance tools and Childrens Rights Online across the Globe – a Discussion Paper: https://c-fam.org/wp-content/uploads/Digital-Age-Assurance-Tools-and-Childrens-Rights-Online-across-the-Globe.pdf  Salinger Privacy Reforms hub of resources: https://www.salingerprivacy.com.au/privacy-reforms/  Podcast: This week in digital trust – #51 The Wait is Over: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/51-the-wait-is-over/id1616386683?i=1000601017587  Australian Privacy Foundation: https://privacy.org.au/  Bruce Schneier's Newsletter Crypto-Gram: https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram/  Cultivating Coordination Research Paper: https://techpolicydesign.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TPDC_Cultivating_Coordination_2_20230221.pdf  Follow:  Sunita Bose on Twitter @SunitaBose  Digital Industry Group on Twitter: @DIGIAUS  Salinger Privacy (Anna Johnson) on Twitter @SalingerPrivacy  Australian Privacy Foundation on Twitter @apf_oz  Tech Policy Design Centre on Twitter: @TPDesignCentre 

In this episode, the ICGP's Chairman Dr John Farrell, and former President Prof. Tom O'Dowd, discuss the College's Discussion Paper, "Shaping the Future", in which the ICGP proposes 10 possible solutions to the workforce and workload crisis in general practice in Ireland. This podcast was recorded on 9th November 2022. You can download a copy of the "Shaping the Future" discussion document at www.icgp.ie, or at this link https://www.icgpnews.ie/press-release-icgp-proposes-10-solutions-to-gp-workforce-workload-crisis/ You can contact the GP Works producer, Aileen O'Meara at ICGP.news@gmail.com www.icgp.ie

This one is a HOT SHOW! We cover Clark Kent Forever, Superman Never! The Campbells, Velma is in HOT WATER, Blade Runner continues to be MILKED TO DEATH, Paper Girls is Cancelled and Dave is DISTRAUGHT, DEEP Rings of Power discussion, Dave rants in full old man in the Muppets mode, and there's MORE Assassins Creed updates! Weekly Comics Justice League #139 Superman #296-299 TRADE OF THE WEEK The Campbells Vol 1 & 2 Please support the show on Patreon! Every dollar helps the show! https://www.patreon.com/SignalofDoom Follow us on Twitter: @signalofdoom Dredd or Dead: @OrDredd Legion Outpost: @legionoutpost Follow Dave on Twitter: @redlantern2051

EdTech #326 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: EQUITY- Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

EdTech #325 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: Synergies and Alignment - Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

EdTech #324 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: Recommendation 3 - Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

EdTech #323 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: Recommendation 2 - Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

EdTech #322 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: Recommendation 1 - Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

EdTech #321 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: Recommendations - Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

EdTech #320 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: Principle 3 - Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

EdTech #319 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: Recommendation 2 - Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

EdTech #318 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: Principles 1 - Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

EdTech #317 Digital Learning - Discussion Paper: Three Principles - Thematic Track 4: UN Transforming Education Summit https://millenniumedu.org/un-tes-2022-at4-digital-learning/

Andy Hill, an ICMA Senior Director in Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, comments on corporate bond market liquidity and ICMA's response to the IOSCO discussion paper.

Decentralized finance – DeFi – has created an entire on-chain Wall Street – a digital financial services industry where users engage with software called smart contracts. With DeFi, you can do most of the things that banks support — earn interest, borrow, lend, buy insurance, trade derivatives, trade assets, and more — but at the speed of the internet. Only a handful of regulators globally have weighed in on the power, promise, risks and challenges of DeFi. This month, Abu Dhabi Global Market's (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) published a discussion paper that seeks guidance from the cryptocurrency industry and serves as a starting point for a dialogue on how DeFi may be regulated. In this TRM Talk, we spoke to one of the paper's authors, Brian Yeoh, Head of Data Governance and Strategy for ADGM, to discuss the new DeFi paper and how a leading regulator is thinking about the DeFi space. For more analysis of the paper: https://www.trmlabs.com/post/trm-talks-abu-dhabi-global-markets-discussion-paper-on-defi This podcast is hosted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company. We work with crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies to monitor, detect and investigate fraud and financial crime in crypto. Learn more about our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people here: https://www.trmlabs.com/about

While there are still plenty of unanswered questions surrounding the federal government’s goal of reducing nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer by 30 per cent by 2030, the organization that represents Canada’s fertilizer manufacturers and suppliers is welcoming the release of a discussion paper outlining the government’s plan. The document, in which the federal government summarizes... Read More

We speak with Dr Nick Tate, President of the Australian Computer Society (ACS). Nick is also President of the South-East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC) and an Adjunct Professor of IT and Electrical Engineering at the University of Queensland.The ACS has recommended the Australian Government change the way electronic surveillance is performed by the nation's law enforcement agencies.In a written response to the Department of Home Affairs' Reform of Australia's electronic surveillance framework Discussion Paper last week, ACS called on the government to stop ‘deputising' IT professionals and technology companies.This follows ACS' objection to the 2018 Assistance and Access Bill requiring Australian IT companies and professionals to secretly assist in cracking electronic protections when called upon to do so by agencies.To read more visit https://australiansecuritymagazine.com.au/call-out-to-stop-deputising-tech-companies/To view the MySec.TV version visit https://mysecuritymarketplace.com/av-media/call-out-to-stop-deputising-tech-companies/

Überblick (ab 2:45 bis 40:10): Stopp Nord Stream II, Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz, US-LNG-Export, Afrika-EU Gipfel (Energiepartnerschaften), Tagung Weltklimarat (IPCC), Neue Atomreaktoren für Frankreich, Hoher EE-Anteil in Strommix, Ausbauoffensive Agri PV, Gasturbine betrieben mit Wasserstoff, HyDeal: Größtes H2-Projekt weltweit, Weitere Maßnahmen gegen hohe Energiepreis (EU Kommission), A380 mit H2, KFW-Förderung, Bloomberg: Investitionskosten von Elektrolyse , Vorzeitige Abschaffung der EEG, Klaus Müller: offizieller Kandidat für BNetzA-Präsident, Lesetipp: 2 Prozent Korrektur: Staatsminister Patrick Graichen sprach das Grußwort bei der Veranstaltung "Auf dem Weg zur H2-Roadmap - Impulse aus dem Wasserstoff-Kompass". Wir sprachen fälschlicherweiße von Minister Robert Habeck. Kontakt: Twitter (redispatch_pod), LinkedIn (Redispatch), Instagram (Redispatch_Podcast), TikTok (redispatch) Shell Energy Outlook 2022: https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/natural-gas/liquefied-natural-gas-lng/lng-outlook-2022.html#iframe=L3dlYmFwcHMvTE5HX291dGxvb2tfMjAyMi8 Agora Energiewende - Agorameter: https://www.agora-energiewende.de/service/agorameter/chart/power_generation/21.02.2022/24.02.2022/today/ BMWK 2021: IPCEI - Standortkarte: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/I/ipcei-standorte.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=8 FfE München (2022): Discussion Paper: 2 % der Landesfläche für Wind: ein geeignetes Maß?: https://www.ffe.de/veroeffentlichungen/ffe-discussion-paper-2-der-landesflaeche-fuer-wind-ein-geeignetes-mass/

Welcome to a very special episode of The New P&L – Principles & Leadership in Business podcast series: our first Roundtable Discussion for 2022 and focused on 'Why we need Audacious & Resilient Leadership more than ever'. We are very proud and excited to have NTT Research, Inc – part of the Japanese global telecommunications giant, NTT Group, as sponsor of this fantastic and important Roundtable Discussion. President & CEO of Silicon Valley-based NTT Research, Kazuhiro Gomi, joins us on the Roundtable panel and is joined by two other incredible guests: Franziska Dolak, Global Head Digital Services & Applications at Siemens Smart Infrastructure and John Harris – CEO of Worldwide Partners inc, the world's largest global network of independent advertising agencies. Our fantastic panel – all thought leaders and authorities in their own industries will be discussing what Audacious & Resilient Leadership looks like in business today and lessons to be learned from how each of their industries is responding to the challenges and opportunities we face as we come out of the pandemic; as well as how Audacious & Resilient Leadership can help unpin a leader's ability to see the opportunity rather than the challenge in front of them. To download the Discussion Paper: https://bit.ly/34S84P0 To join The New P&L movement: www.principlesandleadership.com Kazuhiro Gomi episode on The New P&L: https://bit.ly/3H8I279 Franziska Dolak episode on The New P&L: https://bit.ly/3sW6ymN John Harris episode on The New P&L: https://bit.ly/3BFM7hL LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/principlesandleadership/ Twitter: @TheNewPandL Insta: @principlesandleadership --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/principlesandleadership/message

"I think in terms of consciousness, it seems to me that these Feelings of Knowing are perhaps the conscious tip of the iceberg for this huge amount of unconscious processing that's going on of all this information in our environment, where maybe I couldn't tell you why I know there's danger, but I know." - Alea Skwara, PhD Candidate in the Perception, Cognition, and Cognitive Neuroscience (PCCN) area of the Psychology Department at UC Davis   Global Workspace Theory: Exploring Evidence for Widespread Integration & Broadcasting of Conscious Signals - Part Two Episode 17 of the Podcast On Consciousness with Bernard Baars explores the links between cutting edge brain evidence and how that supports or updates our understanding of consciousness and the Global Workspace Theory (GWT).   Talking Points 0:00 – Intro 5:24 – History of Global Workspace Theory 8:23 – Discussion Paper #1: Baars et al. (2013) Global Workspace Dynamics  9:32 - What is meant by “Widespread Integration?” 17:22 – The Neuroscience of Widespread Integration 25:26 – Corticothalamic Loops in Relation to GWT 30:10 – Localist vs Local-Global Theories 35:46 – “The Question of Introspection” 43:01 – How is Consciousness Assessed? 49:58 – Feelings of Knowing (FOKs) 54:33 – Discussion Paper #2: Gaillard et al. (2009) Converging Intracranial Markers...  1:04:20 – Discussion Paper #3: Herman et al. (2019) A Switch & Wave of Neuronal Activity 1:14:55 – Brain Oscillations: Gamma and Beta Bands 1:20:56 – Paper #4: Deco et al. 2019 Revisiting the Global Workspace 1:26:29 – Functional Rich Clubs 1:41:50 – The Future Quest for Consciousness   Summary Episode 17 is the second in a three-part series on GWT Origins & Evidence, featuring our student interviewers, Alea Skwara and Ilian Daskalov. Together with Bernard Baars, they examine the recent neuroscientific study of consciousness. After some quick introductions, Alea briefly summarizes their discussion in Part I on the history of Global Workspace, how the theory evolved, as well as some of the core hypotheses it generates. Now we dive into the brain evidence.  Global Workspace Theory (or GWT) was first formulated in the ‘80s as a psychological theory of how consciousness might operate. In Part I, we talked about the spotlight metaphor. One of the key predictions of GWT is “widespread integration and broadcasting.” This seems to be one of the predictions that can be most directly tested by brain activity, our topic today.   Cortical Binding and Propagation The trio delves into the first of 4 papers, namely Baars' 2013 paper called “Global Workspace Dynamics.” This paper comes as the result of four decades of cumulative work, which pulls together the evidence as of 2013. One of its key points connecting GWT to neuroscientific evidence is that GWT does not require (or suggest) an “anatomical hub” of coordinated activity, but, instead, a momentary, dynamic “functional hub.”  Bernie, Alea and Ilian explore the question: What is the difference between an anatomical hub and a functional hub, and what does it mean to say that a functional hub is dynamic? Bernie explains how the conscious brain is characterized by ‘widespread integration and broadcasting.' The cortex is like a large city with specialized neighborhoods, streets and alleys. There is an ever changing flow of traffic between them. He then suggests that the thalamus is more than a relay station of the brain, and that the sensory thalamus is an entryway to the giant cortico-thalamic (CT) system, which integrates and broadcasts conscious information. Next, Ilian asks how we can experimentally test conscious processes. This moves the conversation to Feelings of Knowing (FOKs), which is one fundamental type of conscious experience. Bernie makes the point that Feelings of Knowing are an integral part of the conscious stream.   Evidence for GWT: Conscious Access, Gamma Activity, and Functional Rich Clubs The next paper is by Gaillard et al. (2009). It is an outstanding example of reading work from France by Dehaene and Changeux in Paris. The title is “Converging Intracranial Markers of Conscious Access, ” and it represents probably the most precise and accurate evidence so far for cortical integration and broadcasting. The experiment compared conscious and unconscious processing of briefly flashed words. Our trio asks the question: How does the observed effect of longer lasting and more widespread brain activity during conscious perception of a word offer support for GWT? Alea explains how this evidence confirms that conscious perceptual activity is propagated widely throughout the cortex. The third target paper is from a famous Yale epilepsy research group, led by Hal Blumenfeld, and the first author is Wendy X. Herman. It is titled, “A Switch and Wave of Neuronal Activity in the Cerebral Cortex During the First Second of Conscious Perception” (2019), and reinforces our message. Alea summarizes this third paper in the discussion, which looks at conscious perception in humans by using direct electrical recordings from the cerebral cortex during a visual perception task. Herman et al. discovered that stimuli that were consciously perceived elicited large-scale network switching, followed by waves of gamma activity. These findings support the hypothesis that such large waves are an indication of coordinated local-global activity.  Our trio asks: What might be the special significance of the gamma and beta bands to consciousness? An important recent paper by Deco et al. (2019) links this research to the major discovery of the cortical connectome, the street map of the cortex. It is called “Revisiting the Global Workspace.”  This fourth and final paper, with coauthors Deco, Vidaurre, and Kringelbach, examined neuroimages from over 1000 participants and created a full brain hierarchy in what the researchers defined as ‘functional rich clubs.' These ‘clubs' correlate activity between brain regions and strengthen the idea that Global Workspace is dynamic, but not necessarily in a grossly visible way. Our trio explores: What does Deco's idea of an “invariant global workspace” mean?   The Future Quest for Consciousness  As our trio wraps up, Ilian wants to know about the future of “the quest for consciousness.” Bernie and Alea agree that combining brain recordings with phenomenological interviews during meditation is very exciting.   Links to Papers Discussed in the Episode Paper 1: “Global Workspace Dynamics: Cortical ‘Binding and Propagation' Enables Conscious Contents Paper 2: Converging Intracranial Markers of Conscious Access Paper 3: A Switch and Wave of Neuronal Activity in the Cerebral Cortex During the First Second of Conscious Perception Paper 4: Revisiting the Global Workspace: Orchestration of the Functional Hierarchical Organisation of the Human Brain   Bios Alea Skwara is a PhD candidate at the University of California, Davis where she studies cognitive neuroscience. Her primary research focuses on compassion and responses to suffering. The main question that Alea is currently trying to answer is whether meditational practices can expand the range of people that a person can feel compassion for. Ilian Daskalov is a senior undergraduate student at University of California, Irvine where he studies Cognitive Science. He holds an associate degree with honors from San Diego Mesa College. His research interests include sleep, psychedelics, and artificial intelligence. He is passionate about communicating science and promoting critical thinking.  Bernard Baars is best known as the originator of global workspace theory and global workspace dynamics, a theory of human cognitive architecture, the cortex and consciousness. Bernie is a former Senior Fellow in Theoretical Neurobiology at the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, CA, and Editor in Chief of the Society for MindBrain Sciences. He is author of many scientific papers, articles, essays, chapters, and acclaimed books and textbooks.   Bernie is the recipient of the 2019 Hermann von Helmholtz Life Contribution Award by the International Neural Network Society, which recognizes work in perception proven to be paradigm changing and long-lasting.   He teaches science. It keeps him out of trouble.   Get a 40% Discount for your copy of Bernie Baars' acclaimed new book On Consciousness: Science & Subjectivity - Updated Works on Global Workspace Theory GO TO: http://shop.thenautiluspress.com APPLY DISCOUNT CODE AT CHECKOUT: "PODCASTVIP"

Episode 12: Non-financial misconduct and whistleblowing In this podcast episode we discuss the FCA, PRA and Bank of England's joint discussion paper on their plans to monitor, track and improve diversity and inclusion in regulated firms. We examine how D&I will become a regulatory risk issue; the links drawn between D&I and non-financial misconduct; and the proposed D&I policy options and difficulties firms may face in implementing them. This episode features Linklaters London financial regulation counsel Elizabeth Dowd and Sara Cody.

Episode 12: Non-financial misconduct and whistleblowing In this podcast episode we discuss the FCA, PRA and Bank of England's joint discussion paper on their plans to monitor, track and improve diversity and inclusion in regulated firms. We examine how D&I will become a regulatory risk issue; the links drawn between D&I and non-financial misconduct; and the proposed D&I policy options and difficulties firms may face in implementing them. This episode features Linklaters London financial regulation counsel Elizabeth Dowd and Sara Cody.

Matt and Jacques have a conversation based on Per Capita's last Discussion Paper ‘Generation Stressed': House Prices and the Cost of Living in the 21st Century.It became clear based on research comparing the cost of housing across three generations – in the 1970s, mid- to late-80s and early 2000s -  the latter - Gen X people - who bought their homes around the turn of the Millennium, suffered from a 130% increase in the lifetime cost of owning a home compared to 30 years earlier (i.e. compared to those who bought their homes in the 70s).  The Discussion Paper (see link below) then explores some of the consequences for individual households and for the Australian economy as a whole. https://percapita.org.au/our_work/generation-stressed-house-prices-and-the-cost-of-living-in-the-21st-century/   

The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security supports a national Participatory Plant Breeding Program - PPB - with the University of Manitoba that puts farmers in the driver's seat to select varieties that are adaptive to their organic growing conditions, and their climates. To find out more about this innovative work, please visit www.seedsecurity.caYou can also learn more about the PPB program on the University of Manitoba's Natural Systems Agriculture page:https://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/naturalagriculture/ppb.htmlSponsorOur podcast is supported by generous donations, sponsorships and partnerships. This episode was funded in part by the Canada and Manitoba governments through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership and the Prairie Organic Development Fund, as well as through our sponsors. In this episode we're collaborating with The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, a program of SeedChange. Climate-resilient agriculture in Canada requires that farmers are engaged in every aspect of food production, and that includes plant breeding. Since 2013, The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security has been supporting a national Participatory Plant Breeding Program - PPB - with the University of Manitoba that puts farmers in the driver's seat to select varieties that are adaptive to their organic growing conditions, and their climates. To find out more about this innovative work, please visit www.seedsecurity.caGuest bio for Iain StoroskoIain is currently doing a Masters of Geography at Carleton University, focusing his thesis in areas of agricultural geography and agricultural development. He comes from a background in environmental science and through his undergrad was strongly swayed towards the areas of sustainable agricultural production, food security, and food sovereignty. He has worked as well in seed breeding and plot research in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Quebec. His current research focuses on farmer-researcher participatory programs for crop development. His research is supported through a MITACS internship with the organization SeedChange to review their Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) program, funding provided by the Organic Farming Research Foundation.  Outside of school he enjoys hiking, biking, skiing, playing music, and experimenting with his own small organic growing. Guest bio for Aabir DeyAabir developed his passion for seeds while he was completing his Sustainable Farming Certificate at Everdale, a teaching farm in Hillsburgh, Ontario, and supporting research trials for Seeds of Diversity's collection of over 3,000 different Canadian seed varieties. After completing a Master of Environmental Studies at York University, researching organic seed systems in Ontario, Aabir joined the The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, as Regional Program Coordinator for Ontario. Aabir has co-authored publications on Canada's seed system including the Canadian Organic Seed Sector Environmental Scan, the Discussion Paper on Seed Policy in Canada, and Canadian Organic and Ecological Plant Breeding Priorities for Vegetable Crops. He has been instrumental in shaping and leading the training, research, and policy programs developed for The Bauta Family Seed Initiative. Aabir loves working in the field with seed producers and farmers all over Canada, and is thrilled to continue to steward The Bauta Family Seed Initiative at a national level into the future. Aabir works remotely from Guelph, Ontario.

The Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) is a major Australian government foreign aid initiative that commenced in 2008, that has spent over $350 million, and that has turned out over 15,000 graduates with Australian qualifications. In a recent Devpolicy Discussion Paper, Richard Curtain and Stephen Howes analyse graduate tracer surveys and show that employment outcomes for APTC graduate job-seekers have worsened over the last decade. This is mainly because of falling demand for the trades and hospitality qualifications APTC has offered since inception. They suggest a more demand-led approach to course selection and a greater focus on promoting international migration opportunities to improve employment outcomes for APTC graduates. In a related Policy Brief they propose that APTC should redirect its labour mobility efforts and focus on the Temporary Skill Shortage visa and those graduates who are eligible to migrate to Australia as skilled workers.>> view presentation>> view Discussion Paper>> view Policy BriefSpeakers:Dr Richard Curtain is a Research Fellow specialising in Pacific labour mobility at the Development Policy Centre, The Australian National University.Professor Stephen Howes is Director of the Development Policy Centre and Professor of Economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.Chair:Sadhana Sen is Regional Communications Adviser at the Development  Policy Centre, The Australian National University. Photo credit: Flickr/DFAT

Did you know unprecedented numbers of people searched for prayer during the COVID-19 pandemic's early months?  So, what role does religion play in disasters?  Does it help or is religion a distraction from reality?  Check out: COVID-19, Disasters & Religion: Conversation with Dr Jeanet Bentzen (Multi-Hazards Podcast S02 E15)  On Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc.  Check out the Study Guide, click on the top left "PDF": https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/covid-19-disasters-religion-conversation-with-dr-jeanet-bentzen Dr. Jeanet Sinding Bentzen is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on economic approaches to decision-making and culture, and includes topics related to religion, institutions, economic growth, economic history, and geographic confounders. Most of her recent work is within the Economics of Religion field. Methodologically, she uses econometric techniques to test theories from psychology, sociology, theology, and anthropology empirically. Her methodology involves broad datasets spanning the globe, allowing testing of the generalisability of the various theories. She's helped us make sense of the COVID-19 crisis.  In June 2020, she wrote a column called "Rising religiosity as a global response to COVID-19 fear". Before that, in May 2020, she wrote "In Crisis We Pray" paper, one in the Centre for Economic Policy (CEPR) COVID Economics series. In Apr 2020, with Gunes Gokmen she wrote a Discussion Paper called "Power of Religion". Before all this, in Feb 2020, she published with Lena Sperling a CEPR paper called "God Politics".  In Dec 2019, she became the new Executive Director of Association of Economics, Religion, and Culture (ASREC). 

Another big week of news as the coronacrisis rolls on - We've had Flight Centre announce its plans to transform post-COVID 19, more cruise pauses and a provocative discussion paper released by the Council of Australian tour operators. Travel Daily – News on the Fly is your weekly run through of all the latest travel industry news. Nominations for the Travel Daily awards are now open. Head to awards.traveldaily.com.au to nominate those who have gone above and beyond in these challenging times.

It's been yet another huge week of news. We've seen massive announcements from both Helloworld and APT yesterday, Carnival selling ships, and a controversial open letter that was published in Travel Daily. Listen to the latest episode of News on the Fly for all this and more. Travel Daily – News on the Fly is your weekly run through of all the latest travel industry news. This week's episode of News on the Fly is brought to you by Travel Daily cocktails! We've moved on from meatballs, but we all still need a drink. We're discovering the world with a cocktail in our hand. Help us drink our way around the world, send your cocktail recipes into cocktails@traveldaily.com.au

On this episode of the DevDispatch podcast, we review the UN Women Discussion Paper titled "What Will It Take? Promoting Cultural Change to End Sexual Harassment. This publication has been selected by the DevDispatch podcast in commemoration of the 2019 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.Link: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2019/discussion-paper-what-will-it-take-promoting-cultural-change-to-end-sexual-harassment-en.pdf?la=en&vs=1714Publisher: UN WomenAuthor: Purna Sen, Executive Coordinator and Spokesperson on Addressing Sexual Harassment and Other Forms of Discrimination for UN Women.Publication Year: 2019Questions for considerationWhat does it mean when do-good organisations, education institutions and companies declare "zero tolerance for sexual harassment"?How can leadership practically encourage a victim-centred approach and an organisational culture that makes sexual harassment obsolete?How do we put "zero tolerance for sexual harassment" into action?Who is the publication for?This paper is tackling the issue of sexual harassment at institutional level whether private or public. On page 11 you will find an expanded selection of target audience but in my opinion, I think this publication is relevant to management and leadership of education institutions, public and private sector entities and companies, their human resource personnel as well as their legal team. I say this because this discussion paper is in earnest a practical guide for taking zero tolerance from a phrase into action.Please subscribe on our website https://www.developmentdispatch.com/ and leave us a review or feedback on this episode. We would love to hear from you.If you have a publication you would like us to review, please drop us a message on email: info@developmentdispatch.com and hit us up on twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.

The guest on this episode of the podcast is President Obama! I have a clip of Obama’s talk at Greenbuild in Atlanta on some of his thoughts on the environment, how his daughters are teaching him about greening his habits and what he thinks about hotels. 10:16 Obama on how America likes BIG 16:00 Obama on Greta Thunberg 20:00 On Gen Z Consumers 26:00 On How Values Matter There are no sponsorships or ads for this episode due to the nature of the speaker. Citation: Magnan, S. 2017. Social Determinants of Health 101 for Health Care: Five Plus Five. NAM Perspectives. Discussion Paper, National Academy of Medicine, Washington, DC. doi: 10.31478/201710c Article on Superfunds: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/superfund-toxic-sites-cleanup-future --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/makeclimatecool/message

Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board Hans Hoogervorst and Sue Lloyd join technical staff member Matt Tilling to discuss new appointments to the Board, possible narrow-scope amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements and IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts, classification of liabilities as current or non-current, guidance on the circumstances in which equity-settlement features affect liabilities, subsidiaries that are SMEs, a review of the SMEs Standard, the Discussion Paper on financial instruments with characteristics of equity and Primary Financial Statements.

Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board Hans Hoogervorst and Sue Lloyd join technical staff member Matt Tilling to discuss new appointments to the Board, possible narrow-scope amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements and IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts, classification of liabilities as current or non-current, guidance on the circumstances in which equity-settlement features affect liabilities, subsidiaries that are SMEs, a review of the SMEs Standard, the Discussion Paper on financial instruments with characteristics of equity and Primary Financial Statements.

Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board Hans Hoogervorst and Sue Lloyd join technical staff member Matt Tilling to discuss new appointments to the Board, possible narrow-scope amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements and IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts, classification of liabilities as current or non-current, guidance on the circumstances in which equity-settlement features affect liabilities, subsidiaries that are SMEs, a review of the SMEs Standard, the Discussion Paper on financial instruments with characteristics of equity and Primary Financial Statements.

Episode 4 - My Loved One is Killing Themselves - Can you do something? A discussion about substances use, involuntary treatment, and stages of change. Funding graciously provided by the Alberta Medical Association. References ILO, 2012. ILO : Joint statement on compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centres ILO, OHCHR, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODC, UN Women, WFP, WHO and UNAIDS. Geneva: United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2012. UN Office on Drugs and Crime/World Health Organization, ‘Principles of Drug Treatment. Discussion Paper’,United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2008 Klag, S., O’Callaghan, F., & Creed, P. (2005). The use of legal coercion in the treatment of substance abusers: An overview and critical analysis of thirty years of research. Substance Use and Misuse. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826080500260891 Prochaska, J. O., Velicer, W. F., Rossi, J. S., Goldstein, M. G., Marcus, B. H., Rakowski, W., … Rossi, S. R. (1994). Stages of Change and Decisional Balance for 12 Problem Behaviors. Health Psychology (Vol. 13). Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8c78/cf151a0edbbbbe9ba8e25fac60e2ba2e299b.pdf

Nic Dow from Melbourne BUG and Val talk to the recently released Melbourne City Council Transport Strategy Discusion Paper.https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/news-and-media/pages/car-priority-putting-the-brakes-on-melbourne.aspx. Nic gives a first hand account of the new roundabout on Moray St. South Melbourne. Hamburg becomes first city to ban diesal cars and trucks from streets.www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/business/energy-environment/hamburg-germany-diesel.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fautomobiles&action=click&contentCollection=automobiles®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=sectionfront. 

If you are an American adult, there is a good chance that criminals now have the ability to match your name and social security number, greatly increasing your risk of becoming a victim of identity fraud. In this episode, hear highlights from Congressional hearings about the Equifax breach that exposed the personal information of 145.5 million Americans as we explore the key role that credit reporting companies play in our society. Please Support Congressional Dish Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Bills H.J.Res.111: Providing for congresional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule... H.R. 624: Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 H.R. 2622 (108th): Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 Additional Reading Blog Post: The USS senate is preventing companies like Equifax being held accountable for major screw-ups by Tim Fernholz, Quartz Media, October 24, 2017. Article: The IRS gave Equifax a $7.25 million contract, and a congressman thought it was a joke from The Onion by Aaron Mark, Slate, October 4, 2017. Article: Equifax suffered a hack almost five months earlier than the date it disclosed by Michael Ray, Anita Sharpe, & Jordan Robertson, Bloomberg Technology, September 19, 2017. Article: The Equifax data breach: What to do by Seena Gressin, Federal Trade Commission, September 8, 2017. Article: Wells Fargo uncovers up to 1.4 million more fake accounts by Matt Egan, CNN Money, August 31, 2017. Article: Wells Fargo forced unwanted auto insurance on borrowers by Gretchen Morenson, The New York Times, July 27, 2017. Blog Post: U.S. cities with the best & worst credit scores by Mike Brown, Lend EDU, April 12, 2017. Article: Two major credit reporting agencies have been lying to consumers by Gillian B. White, The Atlantic, January 4, 2017. Report: CFPB orders TransUnion and Equifax to pay for deceiving consumers in marketing credit cores and credit products, CFPB, January 3, 2017. Article: Class-action suits target Experian over T-Mobile breach by Andrew Blake, The Washington Times, November 11, 2015. Article: The long, twisted history of your credit score by Sean Trainor, Time, July 22, 2015. Publication: Data point: Credit invisibles by Kenneth P. Brevoort, Philipp Grimm, & Michelle Kambara, CPFB, May 2015. Blog Post: 4 things to do when your credit score reaches 'good' or 'excellent' by Simple.Thrifty.Living, Huffpost, April 14, 2015 Article: What's the difference between a fraud alert, credit freeze, & credit lock? by STAFF, Lexington Law, January 26, 2015. Article: Revealed: One in four of the UK's top companies pay no tax while we give them millions in credits by Alex Hawkes and Simon Watkins, The Mail, March 2, 2013. Article: The high cost of a 'free credit report' by Stephanie Clifford, The New York Times, August 4, 2008. Article: Credit scores - what you should know about your own by Malgorzata Wozniacka & Snigdha Sen, Frontline, November 23, 2004. Publication: An overview and history of credit reporting by Mark Furletti, Discussion Paper, June 2002. Article: Witness says credit bureaus invade privacy and asks curb by Roy Reed, New York Times, March 13, 1968. References Bill Actions Tracking: H.J.Res.111 Credit Report Website: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action Experian: ChoiceScore Info FTC Consumer Response Center: A summary of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act Identity Theft Website: https://identitytheft.gov/ Open Secrets: Experian Client Profile Summary Open Secrets: Trans Union Corp Client Profile Summary Senate Vote Summary: H.J.Res.111 Sound Clip Sources Senate Session: US senate approves disaster relief bill; Senate; October 24, 2017. 3:57:20 Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH): Studies show that Wall Street and other big companies win 93 percent of the time in arbitration. Ninety-three percent of the time in arbitration the companies win. No wonder they are fighting like hell. No wonder they have lobbied this place like we have never seen. No wonder every Wall Street firm is down here begging their Senators to stand strong with Wall Street and pass this CRA, pass this resolution to undo the rule stopping forced arbitration. 4:05:00 Sen. Mike Crapo (ID): The real issue is whether we will try to force the resolution of disputes in financial resolution into class action lawsuits. This is a question about whether we should force dispute resolution mechanisms into class actions. In fact, let me read the actual language of the rule that we are debating. It doesn’t say anything about forced arbitration clauses. In fact, the rule doesn’t stop arbitration clauses in contracts. It stops protections in arbitration clauses against class action litigation. Let’s read what the actual rule says: The CFPB rule prohibits a company from relying in any way on a predispute arbitration agreement with respect to any aspect of a class action that concerns any consumer financial product or service. In other words, the entire purpose of this rule is to promote class action litigation and to stop arbitration resolution when there is a dispute. Hearing: Equifax Sen Banking Hearing; Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law; October 4, 2017. Witness: Richard Smith: Former Chairman & CEO of Equifax 27:20 Sen. Chuck Grassley (IA): Additionally, we must appreciate that fact that not all data breaches are the same. The information and risk of harm can greatly vary from one breach to another. For example, the past breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus, which this committee held a hearing to examine, involved financial information such as credit and debit cards. Of course, this is information that absolutely must be protected and secured. If it falls in the wrong hands, it can create a lot of problems for individuals. But in the Equifax data breach, I think that’s different. It’s important that consumers and policymakers recognize this distinction because the threat landscape has changed. The information hackers obtained or gained access to in the Equifax breach is the most sensitive personal information used by thieves to commit identity theft. So, we should let that sink in very definitely. A credit card number or bank account information can be changed with a phone call, but you can’t change your social security number and your date of birth. Anyone who’s ever applied for a loan, a credit card, a job, or opened a bank account knows you have to provide a social security number, date of birth to verify your identity. Thus, if someone has this information they can do the same and take over your identity. They can become you. And you won’t know it happened until it’s too late. 38:30 Sen. Jeff Flake (AZ): In your testimony before the House yesterday, you stated that Equifax’s “traditional business model is with companies, not with 400 million consumers.” What portion of Equifax’s business is consumer facing? Richard Smith: Mr. Chairman, roughly 10% of our revenues around the world come from what we call B to C—business to consumer. Flake: That’s 10%. Then, what is the main source of Equifax’s revenue stream? Smith: The vast majority, the remaining, is largely doing analytics, insights, and providing solutions to banks, telecommunications companies, credit card issuers, insurance companies, and the like around the world. Flake: So, if only 10% of the revenue is consumer facing, what is the company’s incentive for keeping consumer data secure when it has no meaningful interaction or limited meaningful interaction with the accountability of consumers? Smith: We are clearly viewed as a trusted steward of that information, and losing that information violates the trust and confidence not only of the consumer but also of the companies we do business with as well. 1:01:52 Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT): You spent a lot of money lobbying against as consumer-protection act that might require you to notify consumers immediately in such breaches. Are you still going to fight and still spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop that kind of a consumer-protection bill from going through? Richard Smith: Senator, I can tell you as a company we do have a government-relations team. In the scheme of things, it’s relatively small. We’re a company with expenses of well over $2 billion. I think our entire lobbying budget, which includes association fees, is a million dollars or less. Leahy: I could care less what your budget is for lobbying. The fact is you opposed legislation that might require notifying consumers, might actually give consumers the ability to respond when they’ve been hurt. Are you going to—is Equifax going to continue to fight consumers’ right to know? Smith: One, I’m unaware of that particular lobbying effort you’re referring to. I can talk to the company, but I’m unaware of that particular lobbying effort. Leahy: It was in your report that you have to file on your lobbying expenses. 1:03:30 Sen. Mazie Hirono (HI): Do consumers have the right to find out what kind of information data brokers like Equifax has on them? Richard Smith: Do they have the right? Hirono: Yeah, yes. Can they call Equifax up and say, what do you have on me? Smith: Every consumer has the right to a free credit report from us, from the industry, and that credit report would detail all the information that the credit file would have on them. Hirono: But that’s just their credit, but you have a lot of other information on everybody besides just their credit information, do you not? Smith: Yes, we do. Hirono: So, if—and my understanding is that you get all this information free. You don’t pay anybody for the information you gather on 145 million people, which is more than one out of three people in our entire country. Smith: It’s largely free. There are exceptions, obviously, but this business, as you know, we’re 118 years old. We’re part of a federally regulated ecosystem that enables consumers to get access to credit. Hirono: Yes. Smith: So that data’s there, and it’s used at their consent, by the way. Regardless of the type of data we have—if it’s your employment data or your income data or your credit data—that data can only be accessed if you as a consumer give the consent for someone to access that. Hirono: How does one give consent— Smith: If you— Hirono: —if you’re selling the information that you have on them? Smith: So, if you as a consumer go to your bank and want to get a credit card, for example, when you sign a contract with the bank for the credit card, you’re allowing the bank the access to approve your credit, in this particular case, to give you the best rate and the best line. 1:17:52 Sen. Richard Blumenthal (CT): Can you guarantee this committee that no consumer will ever be required to go to arbitration? Richard Smith: I cannot, sir. Blumenthal: Why? Smith: Well, one, I’m no longer with the company. I can talk to the management team. Blumenthal: Well, that’s what I mean by the designated fall guy. You know, you’re here, you can’t speak for the company. I’m interested in looking forward. How will consumers be protected? Will arbitration be required of them? Will they be compensated for the sense of security that has been lost? Will there be a compensation fund? Will there be insurance against that kind of loss? And I’m talking about a compensation fund that applies to them because of that loss of privacy. These kinds of questions, which you’re unable to answer because you’re no longer with the company, are as profound and important as any investigative effort looking back, and I recognize you’re here without the authority to make these decisions, but I think someone from the company has to make them. Hearing: Equifax Senate Banking; Senate Banking Committee; October 4, 2017 Witness: Richard Smith: Former Chairman & CEO of Equifax 6:03 Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH): But security doesn’t generate short-term profits. Protecting consumers apparently isn’t important to your business model, so you gather more and more information, you peddled it to more and more buyers. For example, you bought a company called TALX so you could get access to detailed payroll information—the hours people worked, how much they were paid, even where they lived—7,000 businesses. You were hacked there, too, exposing the workers of one proud Ohio company—400,000 workers at Kroger—and an unknown number of people’s information to criminals who used it to commit tax fraud. 26:35 Sen. Ben Sasse (NE): Your organization has committed to providing identity-monitoring services for the next year, but I’m curious about whether or not Equifax and your board have deliberated. Do you think your responsibility ends in one year, in two years, in five years, in 10 years; and if you think it ends at some point, have you tried to think about the goodwill and balance sheet impact of all this? How can you explain to an American whose identity might be stolen later because of this breach why your responsibility would ever end? Does it end? Richard Smith: I understand the question. And it extends well beyond a year, Senator. The first step we took was the five services we mentioned to the chairman a minute ago, which gets the consumer through one year. The ultimate control for security for a consumer is going to the lifetime lock. The ability for a consumer to lock down his or her file, determine who they want to have access for life— Sasse: But isn’t this—just to interrupt—isn’t that about people who might be breached in the future. I’m talking about the 145 million whose data has already been stolen. Does your responsibility end, or what do you think your legal obligations are to them? Smith: I think the combination of the five services we’re offering combined with the lifetime lock is a good combination of services. Sasse: I actually think the innovation of some of the stuff you proposed for the big three going forward is quite interesting, but why does any of that five really do much for the data that’s already been stolen? Smith: Senator, again, the combination of the five offerings today plus the lifetime lock we think is the best offering for the consumer. Sasse: Okay, I don’t think you’ve really answered the question about whether or not you’re exposure legally ends for the 145 million. 29:13 Sen. Ben Sasse (NE): I want to open, at least, the allegations that Equifax executives engaged in insider trading relating to knowledge of this cyber breach. One of the clearest times in definitions of insider trading occurs when a business executive trades their company stock because of confidential knowledge that they have gained from their job. I’m sure you can imagine why Americans are very mad about the possibility that this occurred here. While insider trading is going to be discussed a lot more later in this hearing, I wish you could just very quickly give us a timeline of the first steps. When did Equifax first learn of the May 2017 breach, and when did you inform the FBI of that breach? Richard Smith: Thank you. I’ll answer as quickly as I can. We notified the FBI cybersecurity forensic team and outside global law firm on August 2. At that time, all we saw was suspicious activity. We had no indication, as I said in my oral testimony, of a breach at that time. You might recall that the three individuals sold stock on August 1 and 2. We did not have an indication of a breach until mid- to late August. Sasse: So you’re saying that those three executives—Mr. Chairman, I’ll stop—you’re saying those three executives had no knowledge of a breach on August 1 or 2. Smith: To the best of my knowledge, they had no knowledge and they also followed our protocol to have their stock sales cleared through the proper channels, which is our general counsel. 32:00 Sen. Jon Tester (MT): Let’s fast forward to the 29th of July, and you learned for the first time that your company has been hacked—don’t know how big the hack is, but it’s been hacked—and it was preceded by this notification from US-CERT. Three days after, as Senator Sasse pointed out, you had three high-level execs sell $2 million in stock. That very same day, you notified the FBI of the breach. Can you tell me if your general counsel was held accountable for allowing this stock sale to go forward? Or did he not know about the breach. Richard Smith: Senator, clarification: On the 29th and 30th, a security person saw suspicious activity, shut the portal down on the 30th. There was no indication of a breach at that time. The internal forensics began on the 30th. On the 2nd we brought in outside cyber experts—forensic auditors, law firm, and the FBI. The trades took place on the 1st and the 2nd. At that time, the general counsel, who clears the stock sales, had no indication—or to the company—of a security breach. Tester: Well, I’ve got to tell you something, and this is just a fact, and it may have been done with the best of intentions and no intent for insider trading, but this really stinks. I mean, it really smells really bad. And I guess smelling bad isn’t a crime. But the bottom line here is that you had a hack that you found out about on the 29th. You didn’t know how severe it was. You told the FBI about the breach. On that same day, high-level execs sell $2 million worth of stock, and then you do some investigation, evidently, and you find out at the end of the month that—or, at least, by the first part of September—that this is a huge hack, and you finally notify the public. And as was pointed out already in this committee, these are people that didn’t ask for your service. You’ve gathered it. And now it’s totally breached. And then, as Senator Sasse said, what’s the length of exposure here, and you said, we’ll be doing these five things. That’s proactive, and I think we can all applaud those efforts. But I’ve got to tell you, that doesn’t do a damn thing for the people who have had their identity stolen and their credit rating stolen. So let me ask you this: So their credit rate goes up a little bit, and they go buy a house for 250,000 bucks on a 30-year note, and it costs them 25 grand. Are you liable for that? Smith: Senator, I understand your anger and your frustration. We’ve apologized for the breach, we’ve done everything in our power to make it right for the consumer, and we think these services we’re offering is a right first step. 53:57 Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA): In August, just a couple of weeks before you disclosed this massive hack, you said—and I want to quote you here—“Fraud is a huge opportunity for us. It is a massive, growing business for us.” Now, Mr. Smith, now that information for about 145 million Americans has been stolen, is fraud more likely now than before that hack? Richard Smith: Yes, Senator, it is. Warren: Yeah. So the breach of your system has actually created more business opportunities for you. For example, millions of people have signed up for the credit-monitoring service that you announced after the breach—Equifax is offering one year of free credit monitoring—but consumers who want to continue that protection after the first year will have to pay for it, won’t they, Mr. Smith. Smith: Senator, the best thing a consumer could do is get the lifetime lock. Warren: I’m asking you the question. You’re offering free credit monitoring, which you say is worth something, and you’re offering it for only one year. If consumers want it for more than one year, they have to pay for it. Is that right? Smith: Yes, Senator. But the most, the best thing a consumer can do is the lock product. It’s better than monitoring. Warren: Okay, but, they’re going to have to pay after one year if they want your credit monitoring, and that could be a lot of money. So far, seven and a half million people have signed up for free credit monitoring through Equifax since the breach. If just one million of them buy just one more year of monitoring through Equifax at the standard rate of $17 a month, that’s more than $200 million in revenue for Equifax because of this breach. But there’s more. LifeLock, another company that sells credit monitoring, has now seen a 10-fold increase in enrollment since Equifax announced the breach. According to filings with the SEC, LifeLock purchases credit monitoring services from Equifax; and that means someone buys credit monitoring through LifeLock, LifeLock turns around and passes some of that revenue directly along to Equifax. Is that right, Mr. Smith? Smith: That is correct. Warren: That’s correct. Okay. The second Equifax announced this massive data breach, Equifax has been making money off consumers who purchased their credit monitoring through LifeLock. Now, Equifax also sells products to businesses and government agencies to help them stop fraud by potential identity thieves. Is that right, Mr. Smith? Smith: Yes, Senator. There’s one clarification. You’d mentioned the LifeLock relationship— Warren: Uh-huh. Smith: —which was accurate. At the same time, the majority of that revenue we normally generate is direct to consumer. We’ve shut that down. We’re no longer selling consumer product directly. Warren: I’m sorry. My question is, every time somebody buys through LifeLock—and they’ve seen a 10-fold increase since the breach—you make a little more money. We actually called the LifeLock people to find this out. So, I asked you the question, but I already know the answer. It’s true. You’re making money off this. So, let me go to the third one. Equifax sells products to businesses and government agencies to help them stop fraud by potential identity thieves, right? Smith: To the government, yes. Not to the business. Warren: You don’t sell to businesses? Just small businesses? Smith: We sell business, but it’s not to prevent fraud. That’s not the primary focus or business. Warren: But to stop identity theft, you don’t have any products that you’re touting for identity-theft purposes? Smith: Senator, all I’m saying is the vast majority we do for businesses is not fraud. Warren: Look, you’ve got three different ways that Equifax is making money, millions of dollars, off its own screw up, and meanwhile, the potential costs to Equifax are shockingly low. Consumers can sue, but it turns out that the average recovery for data breaches is less than $2 per consumer, and Equifax has insurance that could cover some big chunk of any potential payment to consumers. So, I want to look at the big picture here. From 2013 until today, Equifax has disclosed at least four separate hacks in which it compromised sensitive personal data. In those four years, has Equifax’s profit gone up? Mr. Smith? Smith: Yes, Senator. Warren: Yes, it has gone up, right? In fact, it’s gone up by more than 80% over that time. You know, here’s how I see this, Mr. Chairman. Equifax did a terrible job of protecting our data because they didn’t have a reason to care to protect our data. The incentives in this industry are completely out of whack. Because of this breach, consumers will spend the rest of their lives worrying about identity theft. Small banks and credit unions will have to pay to issue new credit cards, businesses will lose money to thieves, but Equifax will be just fine. Heck, it could actually come out ahead. Consumers are trapped, there’s no competition, nowhere else for them to go. If we think Equifax does a lousy job protecting our data, we can’t take our data to someone else. Equifax and this whole industry should be completely transformed. Consumers—not you—consumers should decide who gets access to their own data. And when companies like Equifax mess up, senior executives like you should be held personally accountable, and the company should pay mandatory and severe financial penalties for every consumer record that’s stolen. Mr. Chairman, we’ve got to change this industry before more people are injured. 1:22:00 Sen. John Kennedy (LA): It just seems incongruent to me that you have my information—you don’t pay me for it; you don’t have my permission — you make money collecting that information, selling it to businesses — and I think you do a service there; don’t misunderstand me — and you also come to me—you can’t run your business without me; my data is the product that you sell — and you also offer me a premium service to make sure that the data you’re collecting about me is accurate. I mean, I don’t pay extra in a restaurant to prevent the waiter from spitting in my food. You understand my concern? Richard Smith: I understand your point, I believe, but another way to think about that is the monitoring part that you’re referring to, Senator? Kennedy: Uh-huh. Smith: In the future, it’s far less required if you as a consumer have the ability to freeze, or lock as we call it, and unlock your file. And that is free for life. Kennedy: But it’s not just the freeze part. What if you had bad information about me? Have you ever—has an agency ever had bad information about you, and you had to go through the process of correcting it? Smith: Yes, Senator. There’s a process that if— Kennedy: It’s a pain in the elbow, isn’t it. I mean, the burden’s kind of on – you have my data, which you haven’t paid me for. You’re earning a good living, which I don’t deny you. I believe in free enterprise. I think this is a very clever business model you’ve come up with. But you’re earning your money by selling my data, which you get from me and don’t pay me for, to other people, but if the data is wrong that you have about me, I would think you would want to make it as easy as possible to correct it, not as hard as possible. Smith: I understand your point, and it’s an important point for the entire industry to make the process as consumer-friendly as possible if there’s an error on your utility bill, if there’s an error on your bank bill, your credit card statement, to work with consumers to make— Kennedy: Well, can you commit to me today that Equifax is going to set up a system where a consumer who believes that Equifax has bad information about him can pick up the phone and call a live human being with a beating heart and say, here’s this information you have about me that you’re selling to other people—you’re ruining my credit, and it’s not true, and I want to get it corrected. How are you going to correct it, what information do you need from me to prove that it’s incorrect, and when are you going to get back to me, and give me your name and phone number so I can call you. Smith: Senator, I understand your point. There is a process that exists today. More than half— Kennedy: Yeah, and it’s difficult, Mr. Smith. Smith: Be more than happy to get the company to reach out to your staff, explain what we do, and what we’re doing to improve that process. I hear you. Hearing: House Equifax CEO Hearing; House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection; October 3, 2017 Witness: Richard Smith: Former Chairman & CEO at Equifax 5:13 Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL): The Equifax data breach was massive in scale: 145.5 million American victims as of yesterday. I would call it shocking, but is it really? We have these under-regulated, private, for-profit credit reporting agencies collecting detailed personal and financial information about American consumers. It’s a treasure trove for hackers. Consumers don’t have a choice over what information Equifax or, for example, TransUnion or Experian, have collected, stored, and sold. If you want to participate in today’s modern economy; if you want to get a credit card, rent an apartment, or even get a job often, then a credit reporting agency may hold the key. Because consumers don’t have a choice, we can’t trust credit reporting agencies to self-regulate. It’s not like when you get sick at a restaurant and decide not to go there anymore. Equifax collects your data, whether you want to have it collected or not. If it has incorrect information about you, it’s really an arduous process—I’ve tried it—to get it corrected. When it comes to information security, you are at the mercy of whatever Equifax decides is right; and once your information is compromised, the damage is ongoing. Given vast quantities of information and lack of accountability, a major breach at Equifax, I would say, would be predictable if not inevitable. I should really say breaches. This is the third major breach Equifax has had in the past two years. From media reports and the subcommittee’s meeting with Equifax officials after the breach, it’s clear to me that the company lacked appropriate policies and practices around data security. This particular breach occurred when hackers exploited a known vulnerability that was not yet patched. It was months later before Equifax first discovered the breach, and it was another several weeks before Equifax shared news with consumers, this committee, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Senior officials at the company are saying they weren’t immediately aware that the breach occurred, and yet, by the way, there were executives who sold over a million dollars in stock just days after the breach was discovered but, yet, not reported. And for a lot of Americans, that just doesn’t pass the smell test. 22:45 Richard Smith: We know now that this criminal attack was made possible because of combination of human error and technological error. The human error involved the failure to apply a software patch to our dispute portal in March of 2017. Technological error involved a scanner which failed to detect that vulnerability on that particular portal. Both errors have since been addressed. On July 29 and July 30, suspicious activity was detected, and a team followed our security-incident protocol. The team immediately shut down the portal and began our internal security investigation. On August 2, we hired top cybersecurity, forensic, and legal experts, and at that time, we notified the FBI. At that time, to be clear, we did not know the nature or the scope of the incident. It was not until late August that we concluded that we had experienced a major breach. 47:53 Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ): All right, during your tenure at Equifax, you expanded the company’s business into packaging and selling other people’s data, and in that August 17 speech, you explained that having free data with a gross margin of profit of about 90% is—and I quote—“a pretty unique model.” And I get that this unique model is a good deal for Equifax, but can you explain how it’s a good deal for consumers? Richard Smith: Thank you, Congressman. I think I understand the question. Our industry has been around for a number of years, as you know. In fact, Equifax is a 118-year-old company. We’re part of a federally regulated ecosystem that enables consumers to get access to credit when they want access to credit and, hopefully, at the best rates available to them at that time. So we’re very vital to the flow of economy, not just in the U.S. but around the world. Pallone: All right, I want to turn to what Equifax is offering consumers in the wake of this breach, specifically the free credit-lock service that is supposed to be introduced next year. We’ve been told that this free credit-lock service could require consumers to consent to Equifax sharing or selling the information it collects from the service to third parties with whom the individual already has a business relationship for marketing or other purposes. Is that true? Smith: This product will be a web-enabled, mobile-enabled application that will allow a consumer at a time he or she, if they decide they want access to credit, can simply toggle on, toggle off that application to give the bank, credit card issuer, auto lender, access to their credit file to approve their loan. Pallone: Well, by agreeing to use the Equifax’s lock service, will consumers also be opting in to any additional marketing arrangements, either via Equifax or any of its partners? Smith: Congressman, we’re trying to change the paradigm. What I mean by that is, this will be in an environment viewed as a service, a utility, not a product. But we know cross-selling, upselling, or any products available to the consumer, when they go to get and sign up for the lock product, it’s a service to them, and that’s the only product—this service they’ll be able to get. Pallone: Will Equifax give consumers an easy and free method to choose not to share their data in this way, even if the consumer already has a business relationship with the third party? Smith: Yeah, Congressman, I’d envision as this evolves over time, the consumer will have the ability to invite into their world who they want to have access and who they do not. It’ll be their choice, their power, not ours, to make that decision. Pallone: Now, last week, the interim CEO announced that by January 31 of 2018 Equifax would make locking and unlocking of a person’s Equifax credit report free forever. A credit-report lock is already included in TrustedID Premier and other services like credit monitoring and identity-theft insurance. Will that still end after one year? Smith: Congressman, a couple of differences. Number one, the product we offer today for consumers protects the consumer at the same-level protection they’d get January 31. The difference is, today is a browser-enabled product, or service; the 31 of January it’ll be an application, much simpler and easier for the consumer to use. The protection is largely the same. So they get this free service when they sign up for one year. At the end of the one year, effective January 31 of 2018, it goes into the new lock product. Pallone: I guess the difference, other than not expiring, between the credit-report lock that is part of TrustedID Premier and the credit-locking tool that will be available in January, why not just extend the freeze program? Smith: There’s a difference between the freeze product, which came to pass with FACTA back in 2003, passed into law in 2004, that is now governed by state laws in all states, and it’s a cumbersome process for a consumer. In many cases, some states require you to mail in your request for a freeze and that we must mail you a PIN, so your ability to get access to credit when you want credit is encumbered. A consumer could go to a car dealer or to a bank to get a credit card, forget his or her PIN on a freeze product, have to go back home, look for the PIN, mail the PIN in, so it’s a cumbersome process. The lock product we’re offering today is a big step forward; lock product for the 31 of January is an even further step forward. 53:00 Rep. Joe Barton (TX): Mr. Smith, what’s the market value of Equifax? What’s your company worth, or your former— Richard Smith: Congressman, last time I checked it’s somewhere close to 13 billion. Barton: Thirteen billion. I’m told by my staff that this latest data breach was about 143 million people. Is that right? Smith: We were informed yesterday from the company that is typical in a forensic audit, there was some slight movement and the numbers adjusted. Press release came out from the company last night. It’s 145.5. Barton: A hundred—well, okay, I appreciate your accuracy there. But under current law, you’re basically required to alert each of those that their account has been hacked, but there’s really no penalty unless there is some sort of a lawsuit filed and the Federal Trade Commission or state attorney general files a class-action lawsuit against your company. So you really only notify—you’re just required to notify everybody and say so sorry, so sad. I understand that your company has to stay in business, has to make money, but it would seem to me that you might pay a little bit more attention to security if you had to pay everybody whose account got hacked a couple thousand bucks or something. What would the industry reaction be to that if we passed a law that did that? Smith: Congressman, I understand your question. I think the path that we were on when I was there and the company’s continued is the right path, and that’s a path, a line that the consumers to control the power of who and when accesses a credit file going forward, taking the— Barton: Well, a consumer can’t control the security of your system. Smith: That is true, sir, but they can control— Barton: And your security people knew there was a problem, and according to staff briefings that I’ve been a part of, they didn’t act in a very expeditious fashion until the system had already been hacked. And, I mean, you’re to be commended for being here. I don’t think we subpoenaed you. I think you appeared voluntarily, which shows a commendable amount of integrity on your part, but I’m tired of almost every month there’s another security breach, and it’s okay, we have to alert you. I checked my file to see if I was one of the ones that got breached, and apparently I wasn’t. I don’t know how I escaped, but I didn’t get breached, but my staff person did, and we looked at her reports last night, and the amount of information that’s collected is way beyond what you need to determine if she (audio glitch) for a consumer loan. Basically, her entire adult history, going back 10 years, everywhere she’s lived, her name, her date of birth, her social security number, her phone numbers, her addresses, her credit card, student loans, security-clearance applications for federal employment, car insurance, even employment history of jobs that she worked when she was in high school. That’s not needed to determine whether she’s worthy of getting a five-thousand-dollar credit card loan or something. And now it’s all out in the netherworld of whoever hacked it. I can’t speak for anybody but myself, but I think it’s time at the federal level to put some teeth into this and some sort of a per-account payment—and, again, I don’t want to drive credit bureaus out of business and all of that, but we could have this hearing every year from now on if we don’t do something to change the current system. 58:42 Rep. Ben Lujan (NM): Will Equifax be willing to pay for this freeze at Experian and TransUnion for consumers whose information was stolen? Richard Smith: You’re referring to the freeze or the lock? Lujan: You said they’re the same, so… Smith: Yeah, right now we offer a free lock product, as you know, for one year, and then a free lifetime lock product for life, starting January 31, 2018. Smith: And that also extends to Experian and TransUnion? Smith: No, sir, it does not. Lujan: Would Equif—let me repeat the question. Will Equifax be willing to pay for that freeze, for that lock, at Experian and TransUnion for consumers whose information was stolen by it—through Equifax? Smith: Congressman, the company’s come out with what they feel is a comprehensive five different services today and a lifetime lock. I would encourage, to be clear, I would encourage TransUnion and Experian to do the same. It’s time we change the paradigm, give the power back to the consumer to control who accesses his or her credit data. It’s the right thing to do. Lujan: Okay, I’m down to limited time, Mr. Smith. I apologize. I’ll take that as a no that Equifax will not pay for Experian and TransUnion consumers. 1:26:09 Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI): Why do consumers have to pay you to access their credit report? Why should that data not be free? Richard Smith: Congresswoman, the consumer has the ability to access the credit report for free from each of the three credit reporting agencies once a year, and you combine that with the ability to lock your credit file for life for free. Again, it’s a step forward. 2:00:40 Rep. Larry Bucshon (IN): Is it possible people who never signed up or used Equifax directly could have been impacted by the breach? Richard Smith: Yes, Congressman. Bucshon: Okay, so how does Equifax get the information on people who’ve never directly associated with Equifax at all? I mean, I’m not familiar with that. Smith: Yeah, we get it from banks, telecommunications companies, credit card issuers, so on and so forth. Bucshon: So just like we go to apply for a loan, they send you the information, because they want to get a data—they want to get the information on my credit rating, for example. Smith Correct. As I define it, we are part of the federally regulated ecosystem— Bucshon: Yeah. Smith: —that enables banks to loan money to consumers. Bucshon: Right. So, it’s up to the banks, at that point, to notify the individual which credit agencies they’re utilizing to assess their credit risk? Or is it up to the credit agencies? Smith: Traditionally, the contributors of data—in that case, Congressman, the banks would give their data to all three. That’s the benefit of the system is you get a holistic view of an individual’s credit risk. Bucshon: Yeah. My point is, I guess, because a lot of people I talk to back in Indiana, southern Indiana, have no idea who Equifax is, right? And many of those people have applied for home loans and other things. And a matter of fact, probably at some point you have their information, but they may or may not have been notified who sent the information to them—probably the bank or other agency—and that’s something I think that is also maybe an issue, that people don’t understand or have not been told who is being used to assess their credit risk and, hence, something like this happens, they have no idea whether or not their information has been compromised. Smith: I understand your point. Bucshon: Yeah. 2:09:20 Rep. Gene Green (TX): Mr. Smith, Equifax customers or businesses who purchase data and credit reports on consumers, the American public is essentially Equifax’s product. How many times per year on average does Equifax sell access to a given individual’s credit file to a potential creditor, and how much do they make every time they sell it? Richard Smith: If I understand the question, Congressman, we take the data that is given to us by the credit ecosystem of the U.S., add analytics to it, and then when a consumer wants credit—again, through a credit card, home loan, a car—the bank then comes to us for that data and for that analytics, and we charge them for that. **Green: Okay. Well, the question was, how many times does Equifax receive payment for that individual credit file? Every time—if my local car dealer contacts Equifax, and so they pay a fee to Equifax for that information. Smith: Yes, Congressman. If you as an individual want to go to that car dealership and get a loan for a car, they come to us or to competitors, and when they take your data, access your data, we do get paid for it, correct. 2:47:40 Richard Smith: If there’s one thing I’d love to see this country think about is the concept of a social security number in this environment being private and secure, I think it’s time as a country to think beyond that. What is a better way to identify consumers in our country in a very secure way, and I think that way is something different than an SSN, a date of birth, and a name. 2:56:28 Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL): What if I want to opt out of Equifax? I don’t want you to have my information anymore. I want to be in control of my information. I never opted in, I never said it was okay to have all my information, and now I want out. I want to lock out Equifax. Can I do that? Richard Smith: Congresswoman, that requires a much broader discussion around the rules of credit reporting agencies because that data, as you know today, doesn’t come from the consumer; it comes from the furnishers, and the furnishers provide that data to the entire industry. Schakowsky: No, I understand that. And that’s exactly where we need to go, to a much larger discussion, because most Americans really don’t know how much information, what it is that you have it, and they never said okay. Video: Circle Jerk, YouTube, December 3, 2015 Hearing: Credit Privacy Hearing; Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; December 18, 2013 Witnesses: Tony Hadley: Senior VP of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Experian 47:13 Sen. Jay Rockefeller (retired) (WV): So, Mr. Hadley, what does your company—or why does it single out and sell lists of economically vulnerable groups like immigrants, widows, and military personnel? 48:03 Tony Hadley: Thank you, Senator. We would be very concerned if lenders were using that information for scamming purposes, too. And we have processes and procedures in place to ensure that nobody gains access to that score for that purpose. Now— Sen. Jay Rockefeller: And how does that work? Hadley: We have an onboarding system by which we take on a client that gets our information to know who they are, and we also have a mail-piece review process to know what they’re going to offer the consumer. And if it’s anything that looks discriminatory or predatory, we will not provide our list to them. Now— Rockfeller: And this is your self-regulation. Hadley: This is our self-regulation under DMA standards. So if we were to violate that, we’d be in violation of our self-regulatory standards as well as our contractual standards with our clients. Now, what’s important here is that there are somewhere between 45 and 50 million Americans who are outside the mainstream of the credit markets in the United States. These are underbanked, underserved consumers who financial institutions cannot reach through credit scoring and credit report. They don't have financial identities or a big enough or even the presence of a credit file in order to bring them into the mainstream of financial markets. But that doesn't mean that they don't need access to financial services. So banks use this data to try to reach out to consumers who they can help to empower them, not to scam them. We don't want to do business with financial institutions who are trying to scam people, only to empower them. And this is their best way to find those individuals who are outside the mainstream—immigrants; new to credit, like recent college graduates, exactly what we’re talking about here—to give them an offer, an invitation to apply, so that then they can make an eligibility determination regarding that application under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. But this is marketing literature, not eligibility determination. Rockefeller: Who— Hadley: Can I add to that for you? Rockefeller: Not entirely. Can you tell me which are the companies that buy this ChoiceScore product from you? We’ve asked you that. Hadley: Yeah. They would be banks and financial institutions and members of the financial community. Rockefeller: That’s what’s called a general answer. Hadley: Yeah. I can't tell you who our clients are. That’s a proprietary list of ours. It’s like our secret ingredient. The ones who would want that most are our competitors. And our counsel has informed me that they don't believe that our ability to give that to you can be shielded from disclosure through the rules of the Senate. If we thought they could be—for example, under a law enforcement action, where it could be shielded and protected from FOIA or other disclosures, we could do that, but not under the situation—under the rules of the Senate. And we’re very sorry about that, but we just simply can't do that. Our counsel won't let us. 1:25:49 Sen. Claire McCaskill (MO): The case, Mr. Hadley, of Experian and Superget. You purchased the company Court Ventures in 2012, in the spring of 2012. For more than a year after the time you purchased this company that had all this data, you were taking monthly wire transfers from Singapore, and your company did nothing. And as it turns out, those wire transfers were coming from a man in Vietnam who specialized in identity theft and was marketing the information that you owned to criminals to ruin people's lives. So my first question to you is, you were quoted as saying, “We would know who was buying this.” You were getting wire transfers from Singapore on a monthly basis, and no one bothered to check to see who that was? Hadley: Now, I want to be clear that this was not Experian marketing data; this was Experian authentication data. So it’s under a different company, a different use. So that’s just—I want you to know that it’s not marketing data. McCaskill: I don't understand the distinction. I think it’s a distinction— Jay Rockefeller: Nor do I. McCaskill: —without a difference. I believe it was data that you owned, Experian owned. You’d purchased this data from Court Scan, and they had, in fact— Hadley: No. Let me clarify. McCaskill: —sold it to someone else. Hadley: Yeah, let me clarify that for you, because we’ve provided a full response to that question to the Committee, and it’s part of the eight submissions that we’ve given. And I do have to say that it’s an unfortunate situation, and the incident is still under investigation by law enforcement agencies. So I’m really extremely limited in what I can say publicly about it, but I do want to say this. The suspect in the case obtained data controlled by a third party—that was U.S. Info Search. That was not an Experian company—through a company we bought, Court Ventures— McCaskill: Okay. Let— Hadley: —prior to the time that we acquired that company. And to be clear, no Experian data was ever accessed in that deal. McCaskill: Well, I understand what you’re saying. Here’s what happened: You had U.S. Info Search— Hadley: No, we did not own— McCaskill: No, no; I’m— U.S. Info Search existed, and Court Ventures existed. Hadley: And they had a partnership. McCaskill: —they decided, for commercial reasons, to make more money, to combine their information. Hadley: To resell their information. McCaskill: And so they had a sharing agreement, those two companies, correct? Hadley: Right, right. McCaskill: Okay. So these two companies had a sharing agreement. Then you bought one of those companies. Hadley: Court Ventures. McCaskill: Correct. So now you owned it. Now you stood in their place. Are you a lawyer? Hadley: I’m not a lawyer, but I understand we stood in their place, right. McCaskill: Are there any lawyers on the panel? Okay; she’ll back me up. You stand in their place when you buy this. So now you’re there. Now, you said in your earlier testimony, we would know who was buying this. So you now are part of their transactions. Hadley: During— McCaskill: And you were receiving the benefit of these monthly wire. Hadley: So, during the due-diligence process, we didn't have total access to all the information we needed in order to completely vet that. And by the time we learned about the malfeasance, I think nine months had expired. The Secret Service came to us, told us of the incident, and we immediately began cooperating with the Secret Service to bring this person to justice. McCaskill: Okay. Hadley: And we’re continuing to cooperate with law enforcement in that realm. This was—we were a victim and scammed by this person. McCaskill: Well, I would say the people who had all their identity stolen were the victims. Hadley: And we know who they are, and we’re going to make sure that they’re protected. There’s been no allegation that any harm has come, thankfully, in this scam. McCaskill: Okay. Hadley: And we’ve closed that down, and— Rockefeller: Let Senator McCaskill continue. Hadley: —and we’ve modified our processes to ensure that [unclear]— Rockefeller: Let Senator McCaskill continue. McCaskill: Okay. So let's talk about that process. This person got—this man who they lured to Guam to arrest and who is now facing criminal charges in New Hampshire, they posed as an American-based private investigator. What is your vetting process when people want to buy your stuff? Hadley: That would’ve been Court Ventures who would have vetted that prior to our acquisition. McCaskill: Okay, but I’m talking about now, you. What is your vetting process? Hadley: Right now, before we would allow acc—first, let me say that that person would have not gained access to Experian or this data if they had gone through our vetting processes prior to the acquisition. McCaskill: And what would’ve stopped him? Hadley: We would’ve known who that company is. We would’ve had a physical onsite inspection of that company. We would’ve known who that business is and what that business's record is. We would’ve known exactly why they wanted that data and for what purposes. And that would have been enshrined in our contract. And we would’ve known the kinds of systems they have in place to protect the data that they gained. Those are all incumbent upon us under the Gramm-Leach- Bliley Act and the FCRA. McCaskill: Well, listen, I understand that this was not a crime that began under your watch. Hadley: Thank you. McCaskill: But you did buy the company, and you did keep getting the wire transfers from Singapore, and the only reason you ever questioned them is because the Secret Service knocked on your door. I don't know how long those wire transfers from Singapore would’ve gone on until you caught them. I don't have confidence that it would’ve stopped at all. So I guess what my point is here, I maybe do not feel as strongly as others on this panel that behavioral marketing is evil. I believe behavioral marketing is a reality, and, frankly, the only reason we have everything we have on the Internet for free is because of behavioral marketing. So I don't see behavioral marketing as an evil into itself. What I do see is some desperate need for Congress to look at how consumers can get this information, what kind of transparency is there, and whether or not companies that allow monthly wire transfers into their coffers from Singapore from a criminal who is trying to rip off identity theft, whether or not they should be held liable for no due diligence on checking those wire transfers from Singapore until the Secret Service knocked on their door. And that’s what I think we need to be looking at. And I don't think there’s enough—I mean, I know that some of my friends on the other side of the aisle, you say trial lawyers, and they break out in a sweat. But the truth is that if there was some liability in this area, it would be amazing how fast people could clean up their act. And, unfortunately, in too many instances there’s not clear liability because we haven't set the rules of the road. Video: FreeCreditReport.com all 9 commercials, YouTube, October 3, 2009. Hearing: Credit Scoring System; House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations; July 30, 2008. Witnesses: Thomas Quinn: Vice President of Global Scoring at Fair Isaac Business Consulting Stan Oliai: Experian Decision Analytics Consulting Senior Vice President Chet Wiermanski: Transunion Credit Services Analytical Systems Vice President Richard Goerss: Equifax Credit Services Chief Privacy Officer Evan Hendricks: Privacy Times Publisher and Editor 26:42 Thomas Quinn: A FICO score is a three-digit number ranging from 300 to 850, where the higher the score, the lower the risk. Lenders use the score, along with other information, to decision the request for credit, set the credit line and pricing terms. Creating the FICO score model requires two samples of credit reports, two years apart, for the same randomly selected depersonalized set of consumers provided by one of the national credit reporting agencies. Those credit factors found to be most powerful and consistent in predicting credit performance, individually and in combination, form the basis for the complex mathematical algorithm which becomes the score. The traditional FICO score model evaluates five broad types of data elements from the consumer credit report. These include, and listed in order of importance, previous credit payment history, about 35 percent contribution; level of outstanding debts, about 30 percent contribution; length of credit history, 15 percent contribution; pursuit of new credit, 10 percent contribution; and mix of type of credit, about 10 percent contribution. FICO scores were first introduced to the marketplace in 1989 and have been consistently redeveloped and updated throughout the years to ensure their predictive strength. 34:00 Stan Oliai: A credit score is a numerical expression of risk of default, based on a credit report. The score is produced by a mathematical formula created from a statistical analysis of a large representative sample of credit reports. The formula is typically called a “model.” The credit score is calculated by the model, using only information in the credit report. These reports include the following types of information: The credit account history—such as was the account paid, was it paid on time, how long has the account been open, and what’s the outstanding balance; the type of account—is it a mortgage, is it an installment, is it revolving; the public record information—liens, judgments, bankruptcies, for example; inquiries in the credit file that represent applications for new credit and other consumer-initiated transactions. A credit report does not include information such as income or assets. It also does not include demographic information such as race or ethnicity. Demographic factors are not used in the calculation of a credit score. 35:05 Stan Oliai: Regulatory oversight of credit scores is accomplished through routine bank examinations for compliance, with a number of laws that govern fair lending, such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. This makes sense because the lender chooses the scoring model to assist in this proprietary underwriting process. The lender is ultimately responsible for demonstrating to regulators that the scoring model it has chosen complies with the lending laws. 46:20 Chet Wiermanski: There is strong evidence to suggest that consumers would benefit from the increased reporting of nontraditional credit information. For example, consumers with thin credit files and, in particular, minorities, immigrants, young and old, all experience a net benefit from full-file reporting by energy companies and telecommunication providers. Consumers with impaired credit histories also obtain a net benefit from full-file reporting by these companies. We are presently engaged in a follow-up study to learn more about the impediments to full-file reporting faced by the utilities and telecommunication industry. It may be very well that Congress may have a role to play in removing roadblocks to encourage voluntary full-file reporting. 2:01:30 Richard Goerss: There are a lot of thing—different activities—that a consumer can do to protect themselves if they feel they are victims or might be victims of identity theft. Certainly, one of the things that they can do is to place a fraud alert on their credit file. They can receive a free disclosure of their credit file to see if there has been any inappropriate activity or inquiry to their credit file. They can provide an identity-theft report and identify the account information that they feel, or that they say, was opened fraudulently. And under the requirements of the FACT Act, the consumer reporting agencies are going to delete that information, and the consumer reporting agency that receives that identity theft with the information-removal request is going to refer it to the other two consumer reporting agencies, who are also going to remove that information. 2:24:30 Evan Hendricks: Right now, you take it for granted that we know about credit scores, but you have to remember it was, like, 12 years ago, in the mid-1990's, when credit scores started being widely used. They were a complete secret; the industry did not even acknowledge their existence. Then, when they found out about it and reporters like Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post started reporting on it, then they would not disclose the score to you. So, California led the way with a state law, and now we have the FACT Act, which means that you can get one—you can buy a credit score for a fair and reasonable price. 2:54:55 Rep. Jackie Speier (CA): We call these credit reporting agencies or credit bureaus, which gives the average consumer the impression that they are dealing with some federal entity, when in fact they are not—we heard this afternoon they’re private or publicly traded companies—and yet this information is so critical, and to Mr. Barrett's comments, who suggested that the consumer needs to be educated, needs to know what goes into their FICO score and what they can do to improve their FICO score, we can't give those kinds of answers, because, for all intents and purposes, it is a proprietary formula. It’s sort of like secret sauce; we don't know what it is. Now, there’s something wrong when the government can't articulate what should be considered in a FICO score. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in this Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

Dennis, although it’s summer time, some carbon and energy developments over the last month, most notably a Government of Canada discussion paper on regulatory reform. Can you first give us some context for this and why it is important? What are the key elements of the discussion paper? How different is this from what you had advocated in your submissions to the NEB Modernization Panel? How does this regulatory reform, at least relating to major hydrocarbon infrastructure, really matter going forward?  Has Canada lost its window of opportunity?

Robin Davies, Associate Director of the Development Policy Centre, interviews German economist Inge Kaul, a leading thinker on global public goods. This interview forms the basis for a blog post (https://exit.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdevpolicy.org%2Fpublic-enemies-global-public-goods-in-aid-policy-narratives-20170407%2F and Discussion Paper (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2941164) on the issue of aid policy and global public goods. This is part 2 of the interview, you can find part 1 here: https://soundcloud.com/devpolicy/robin-davies-interviews-inge-kaul-pt-1

Robin Davies, Associate Director of the Development Policy Centre, interviews German economist Inge Kaul, a leading thinker on global public goods. This interview forms the basis for a blog post (http://devpolicy.org/public-enemies-global-public-goods-in-aid-policy-narratives-20170407/) and Discussion Paper (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2941164) on the issue of aid policy and global public goods.

Wider corporate reporting: Hans explains that the Board discussed the possibility of undertaking some work in this area that may entail updating the Practice Statement on Management Commentary; Primary Financial Statements: Hans outlines the call from investors for more line items and subtotals, and gives an overview of the scope of this project; and Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity: Sue explains what the Gamma approach is and that the Board expects to publish a Discussion Paper later this year.

Wider corporate reporting: Hans explains that the Board discussed the possibility of undertaking some work in this area that may entail updating the Practice Statement on Management Commentary; Primary Financial Statements: Hans outlines the call from investors for more line items and subtotals, and gives an overview of the scope of this project; and Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity: Sue explains what the Gamma approach is and that the Board expects to publish a Discussion Paper later this year.

This week on the show, I take a closer look at the new government white paper which aims to fix our broken housing market. The housing white paper, ‘Fixing our broken housing market’, was published earlier this week by the Department of Communities and Local Government. In this episode I will take you through the key proposals in this white paper, look at some of the reaction, and then share my own thoughts on how we might fix the broken housing market. There's also a real life case study of a 25 year old who is desperate to get onto the housing ladder, and my suggestions for her. Personal finance news update Our newsreader this week is Informed Choice paraplanner Victoria McNulty. -An unmarried woman whose long-term partner died has won a landmark legal battle that could improve the pension rights of unmarried couples in the public sector.  -Annual house price growth slowed in January, with this trend expected to continue during 2017.  -The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a new Discussion Paper seeking views on the practice of investing in illiquid assets through open-ended funds.  -Premium Bond holders will have a lower change of winning the biggest prizes from May. -Tax as a share of the UK's income is set to rise to its highest level since 1986. Get answers to your personal finance questions Do you have a personal finance or investing question for Martin? Email martin@icfp.co.uk or ask on Twitter @martinbamford. You can call our dedicated podcast voicemail line on 020 8144 2745 with your question or visit www.icradio.co.uk/voicemail to leave an online voice message. Aftershow links -Unbiased Awards 2017 -Master Investor Show -Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain - for Life, by Dr David Perlmutter

Nathan Hewitt with tax specialists Andy Nguyen and Angela Lehmann break apart federal government’s new Re:think tax discussion paper. They’ll go through the changes and implications posed for individuals and small businesses. Produced by Nathan Hewitt.

In this interview, Robert questions Kush Patel, Director in the UK IFRS Centre of Excellence, on the alternative solutions to the macro-hedging problem considered by the IASB, including how it addresses the issues faced under the IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement model, as well as some of the new difficulties and complexities the alternatives pose.

Ms Chris Johnston is a heritage consultant who specialises in investigating the special meanings and associations that exist between people and their places. She is well known for her work in developing and applying social significance methodologies, community engagement, strategic planning and innovative approaches to understanding heritage values and places. Chris also has an active interest in aesthetic values and emotional response to place. She is a Director of Context Pty Ltd, a heritage consultancy based in Melbourne. Twenty years ago ‘What is Social Value? A Discussion Paper’ was published. Where did this concept come from, how have we used and misused it, and where are we going with it today? Chris will explore the journey so far, touching on both theory and practice, illustrated with some places and people who have shaped her understandings of the oft-challenged concept of social significance.

Nick Main, Deloitte Global Leader, Sustainability & Climate Change Services and Robert Bruce discuss the concept of 'integrated reporting' as well as the discussion paper issued by the recently formed International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) which proposes an International Integrated Reporting Framework.

Chief Executive Officer Conrad Voldstad and Executive Vice Chairman Robert Pickel discuss the CFTC’s Electronic Execution Mandate and ISDA’s new Discussion Paper that assesses the mandate’s costs and benefits.

This paper is a supplement paper to Knorr-Held and Rasser (1999), Discussion Paper 107. "Bayesian Detection of Clusters and Discontinuities in Disease Maps", which describes a novel approach to disease mapping with particular emphasis on the detection of clusters and discontinuities in disease maps. First we investigate several features of the prior by simulations from the clustering model both for the 544 regions of Germany and for the 88 counties of Ohio state. Furthermore the method is applied to various artificial datasets for Ohio with and without spatial patterns. Sensitivity with respect to prior parameters is studied.

Die hier vorgestellten Erweiterungen der bereits bestehenden generischen Bibliothek zur linearen Algebra (Fieger, A., Heumann, C., Kastner, C., Watzka, K., 1997:(Discussion Paper 63) stellen Funktionen bereit, die bei der Implementierung statistischer Verfahren benötigt werden. Besondere Beachtung findet der Umgang mit fehlenden Daten.