DINT #74 - Here's the #1 Solution to Performative Diversity in Tech

Plus: The US Copyright office wants your thoughts on AI and copyright infringement.

News Briefs

Network Security Firm Allows Customers to Get Hacked Due to Weak Passwords

LogicMonitor didn’t employ the most basic security setup when onboarding new users for their customers. That’s according to reporting by TechCrunch, detailing LogicMonitor’s lack of network security best practices. The firm didn’t require users to change the default passwords provided on setup.

Fake Signal and Telegram Apps Swipe User Data Via New Method

One hundred users downloaded an app called Signal Plus Messenger. They then connected their device to their desktops and the malware in Signal Plus Messenger compromised the users real Signal account. This compromise delivers the attacker all salient details from the user’s phone; critical information such as IMEI, Wi-Fi info, passwords, and all contacts on the user’s phone.
(Ars Technica)

Tell You Can Tell the Powers That Be What You Think About AI and Copyright

The U.S. Copyright Office opened up public comments on its efforts to manage AI and copyrights. If you have thoughts about how AI models use data for training, copyrights for AI-based creations, and how liability should function when users leverage AI. Comments are open until October 18.
(Federal Register)

Russia Uses ‘Infamous Chisel’ Android Backdoor to Roil Ukraine’s Communications (ArsTechnica)

Citizens of EU Member States May Be Able to Opt Out of Facebook and Instagram Ads (The New York Times)

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Editor’s Note

Reporting on the sad state of the intersection of technology, race, and gender can be exhausting. I crave a positive story to share with you. A beacon. A shining light. A city on a hill.

Yet my critical eye as a journalist sees through many of the company-produced wins for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Much of it is simply a ruse, a sad performance to fall in line with peers in an industry.

I wrote a piece on this early in the life of DINT and I’d like to re-publish it today for two reasons:

1. It’s even more relevant today than when I wrote it, and

2. The article offers a clear-eyed look at solutions few in tech want to face.

One ray of light: An investing group is again showing interest in DINT. We’ll have exciting news to share in the coming weeks. Until then, please enjoy this content and I’ll see you next week. – L

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Friday Feature

Republished from DINT #50 on May 1, 2023, included below in full for premium subscribers, along with a link to the entire #50 issue.

DINT #50 – Diversity Solved: The One Thing Companies Must Do to End Performative Diversity

Diversifying tech isn’t difficult.

Yet I, along with many others, breathlessly pursue reasons and techniques, programs, and offerings, anything to move the scales of justice in an equitable direction.

We’re making it more difficult than it has to be for our efforts to be effective. Meaning, for all the effort we put into diversity, very little has changed.

Does that mean we don’t try? Should we throw our hands up and abandon the next generation of leaders in tech? No, of course not.

I am saying we need to be truthful. Diversity efforts amount to a car with wheels with spinning in mud. A mechanic standing to the side with sand and rocks to dry up the mud enough for the car to drive out and keep going down the road. Instead, the mechanic watches, waits, and ponders while others come up with, and sometimes implement, idea after idea with no substantial forward movement.

What would an ideal tech workforce look like if the mechanics of our world would simply muster the will to throw out the gravel and sand to get the wheels moving out of the muck and mire? The industry, when it’s a reflection of a society’s population, would be mission-focused, profit-centric, and focused on overarching objectives – providing value for shareholders.

Sadly, we don’t work in an industry where this focus is prevalent. We think we’re making progress. We believe we’re doing good things, but the sum total of our efforts sometimes has people privately working against the very initiatives they publicly support.

There’s evidence all around us.

When you compare any number of problems tech has faced, true institutional will creates a near-instant turnaround. Case in point:

After sifting through the data, the authors concluded that race is a stronger impediment than gender when it comes to climbing Silicon Valley’s corporate ladder. Representation of white women in leadership roles improved by 17 percent between 2007 and 2015, whereas for all other minority groups, the percentage went down.
(“Why Tech Leadership Has a Bigger Race Than Gender Problem” by Nitasha Tiku / Wire)

If tech can get some section of gender diversity right, why isn’t the rest of the diversity equation solved?

Some say, it’s too much change too soon.

Yet, the people who say that never have a time or date when it would be the right time.

Your Paycheck or Your Dignity? Underrepresented Workers Face an Impossible Choice