Nine great industry news stories from this week you may have missed.

How COVID-19 helped push Ontario's low-tech justice system into the 21st century

Via CBC

Early yesterday morning CBC reported Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey was announcing sweeping new technological changes to the province's justice system. Ontario's courts, which are set to reopen on July 6th, will be fitted with Plexiglas barriers, physical distancing markers and hand-sanitizing stations. Downey stated about 300 Ontario courtrooms have already been outfitted to hold virtual trials, where a judge would be in the room and lawyers and witnesses could join in remotely. Currently, Ontario's courts still rely primarily on paper records and fax machines to share information, but, according to Downey, in the coming months court files will be digitized. Learn the full details of the changes to come on CBC.

Google faces $5 billion lawsuit for tracking users in Incognito mode

Via Venture Beat

If you thought browsing in Incognito mode was your best bet of keeping your internet searches private, think again. Venture Beat has reported that Google was sued on Tuesday in a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the internet search company of illegally invading the privacy of millions of users by pervasively tracking their internet use through the browsers "private" mode. The lawsuit seeks at least $5 billion and accuses Alphabet Inc. of surreptitiously collecting information about what people view online and where they browse, despite using what Google calls Incognito mode. Read all the details here.  

Don't be fooled by COVID-19 contact-tracing scams

Via Wired

Fraudsters have found yet another way to take advantage of the pandemic. From phishing attacks to unemployment fraud, attackers have put new, more exploitative twists on their classic hustles. Now, the American Federal Trade Commission is warning that scams have been designed around contact-tracing initiatives.

In case you missed it, contact-tracing apps "trace" people who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, and advise all those who may have been exposed to quarantine strictly at home and monitor for possible symptoms. Scammers are using these apps to their advantage by pretending to work for the apps and asking contacts to give information and click links. Learn more on Wired.com. 

Most victims choose a similar or weaker password after a data breach, study finds

Via Security Boulevard 

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University published a paper about people’s behavior after their passwords were compromised in a data breach. According to Security Boulevard, the results were as bad as you can imagine. Out of 249 participants, 63 had accounts on breached domains. Only 33 per cent of the 63 went on to change their passwords, and only 13 per cent did so within three months of the announcement. Furthermore, most of them used similar or even weaker passwords after the breach.

Why Illinois has become a battleground for facial recognition protection

Via Consumer Reports

One of America's foremost privacy laws will be put to the test in a new lawsuit involving a facial recognition company that claims to have collected billions of consumer photos without permission. The complaint was filed against Clearview AI by the American Civil Liberties Union in Illinois, where the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) prohibits the gathering and use of facial recognition data without consent. Clearview, the New York-based tech company we've shared stories on over the last several months, is known as the "world’s best facial recognition technology combined with the world’s largest database of headshots.” The AI company claims it has the legal right to gather and use the photos because they're public information. Read Consumer Reports' latest article to learn all the details of this controversial case. 

Dozens of MSN journalists to be replaced by robots

Via Forbes

In 2014, MSN stopped producing stories on its own and started entrusting a staff of editors with the task of selecting, adapting and highlighting stories produced by external media partners. Now, the company is readjusting again. The Seattle Times reports the company will be laying off roughly 50 employees and replacing them with AI algorithms that will identify the best stories, rewrite the titles and find the best photos, effectively automating most of the tasks that had been so far performed by humans. Read the full story on Forbes.com.

COVID-19’s profound impact on justice

Via Canadian Lawyer

If an innocent person is held in jail and not allowed to set a trial and a guilty person on bail is not allowed to plead guilty, can we really call it a justice system? In his latest opinion piece for Canadian Lawyer, Michael Spratt argues that trials are being cancelled when they could be conducted remotely. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Spratt states, "Our outdated and archaic justice system relied on close physical contact, paper documents, and personal appearance. To continue business as usual would have created a breeding ground for the spread of the virus." Courts are not set to reopen until July at the earliest, and jury trials are not set to resume until September. Learn why he argues, "a system that does not dispense justice can hardly be called a justice system" here. 

Cybersecurity: Half of employees admit they are cutting corners when working from home

Via ZD Net

The coronavirus pandemic has forced both employers and employees to quickly adjust to remote working ⁠— and, often without the watchful eyes of IT and information security teams, workers are taking more risks online and with data than they would at the office. According to ZD Net, a study has revealed that 52 per cent of employees believe they can get away with riskier behaviour when working from home, such as sharing confidential files via email instead of more trusted mechanisms. In some cases, employees aren't purposefully ignoring security practices, but distractions while working from home— such as childcare, room-mates and not having a desk set-up like they would at the office— are having an impact on how people operate. Read all the details here. 

INSIGHT: The lawyer’s role in protecting cybersecurity in the courts

Via Bloomberg Law

As “officers of the court,” lawyers have always played a vital role in making sure that documents being submitted electronically are free of viruses and malware, and ensuring their office cybersecurity meets requisite technical, administrative and physical safeguards. During COVID-19, with courts turning to technology for hearings and documentation, Bloomberg Law reports that lawyers need to appreciate this role even more. Learn how you can help uphold the rule of law, set new expectations and safeguard your video meetings here.