Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 1, 2025

Subject: Wi-Fi can accurately identify people, even if they aren’t carrying a phone or computer
Source: TechSpot
https://www.techspot.com/news/109975-wi-fi-can-accurately-identify-people-even-if.html

[h/t Sabrina] Device-free identification – The takeaway: People often worry about being tracked through their wireless devices, especially when using public Wi-Fi networks. However, researchers have discovered multiple methods to detect and potentially track individuals via Wi-Fi, even if they are not carrying any devices, and the widespread presence of Wi-Fi networks makes these surveillance tactics potentially universal.According to a recent study (PDF) from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, any Wi-Fi router that supports Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) or newer can be used to observe people within range. The findings raise serious privacy concerns.

The researchers introduced a new identity-inference attack called BFId, which exploits beamforming – a technique standardized with Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). The attack is possible with commercially available hardware and tracks people rather than the devices they carry, bypassing software-based security measures.

For instance, earlier this year, a contractor for the city of New Orleans was revealed to have conducted AI-based surveillance across hundreds of devices for two years without public knowledge. A similar operation using Wi-Fi – based tracking could bypass laws against facial recognition, forcing regulations to play catch-up once again.

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Subject: Cut Through GenAI Confusion: Eight Definitive Reads
Source: MIT Sloan
https://www.bespacific.com/cut-through-genai-confusion-eight-definitive-reads/

MIT Sloan: “Are you confident about how to navigate the what, where, when, and why of generative AI? MIT SMR expert authors offer some much-needed clarity for leaders. Generative AI has become a part of many people’s workdays and organizations’ work processes. And yet many leaders struggle to determine the … As generative AI becomes more capable, it becomes more potentially valuable to both organizations and each of us individually. And yet how to best use large language models and the GenAI tools based on them continues to be a puzzle. Despite its ubiquity, generative AI is still young. So it’s no surprise that many leaders are struggling with important questions about using the tools efficiently, responsibly, and skeptically. The questions are significant:

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Posted in: AI, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management

Article topics

Subject: After Grandma’s Fall, Teen Creates a Winning Solution
Source: Newser
https://www.newser.com/story/377550/after-grandmas-fall-teen-creates-a-winning-solution.html

FallGuard camera system detects falls, sends alerts without any wearable tech

A California eighth-grader just took home the title “America’s Top Young Scientist”—and a $25,000 prize—for inventing a new kind of fall-detection device inspired by his grandmother’s accident. Thirteen-year-old Kevin Tang developed FallGuard, a camera-based monitoring system that uses an algorithm he programmed himself to spot falls and alert caregivers, after his own grandmother suffered a fall that went unnoticed, resulting in permanent brain damage, per USA Today. Unlike wearable devices such as Life Alert, FallGuard relies on cameras placed around the home, meaning there’s nothing for seniors to remember to wear or recharge.[…]

Subject: AI Incident Database
Source: AI Incident Database
https://www.bespacific.com/ai-incident-database-2/

AI Incident Database – Search over 3,000 reports of AI Harms. Why “AI Incidents”? Intelligent systems are currently prone to unforeseen and often dangerous failures when they are deployed to the real world. Much like the transportation sector before it (e.g., FAA and FARS) and more recently computer systems, intelligent systems require a repository of problems experienced in the real world so that future researchers and developers may mitigate or avoid repeated bad outcomes. The initial set of more than 1,000 incident reports have been intentionally broad in nature. Current examples include, […]

NB RSS feed: https://incidentdatabase.ai//rss.xml

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Abstracted from beSpacific
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Subject: AI Glossary – Artificial Intelligence Term Guide 2025
Source: tech.co
https://tech.co/news/ai-glossary-terms

Artificial intelligence is pretty much everywhere in 2025. From business software providers adding AI features to their platforms to people using ChatGPT for therapy, the technology continues to get more and more engrained in everyday life.

As a result, the new lingo and jargon that’s been bouncing around the tech industry for the last few years is starting to find its way into more casual settings, and understanding it is becoming more and more vital for those that want to stay in the loop.

So, in this guide, we’ll explain some of the AI terms you have or may not have heard over the last few years, in hopes of providing you with a bit context when the topic inevitably comes up at your business.

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Subject: After Suicides, Lawsuits, and a Jeffrey Epstein Chatbot, Character.AI Is Banning Kids
Source: Gizmodo
https://gizmodo.com/after-suicides-lawsuits-and-a-jeffrey-epstein-chatbot-character-ai-is-banning-kids-2000678768

Character.AI released its mobile app in early 2023, promising users the opportunity to create their own customizable genAI chatbots. Character’s founders clearly thought individualized bot interactions would be a winning business formula, but, for the most part, it has caused the startup nothing but grief.

In addition to fielding controversy over the kinds of racy characters that users have been allowed to create, numerous lawsuits have alleged that the company’s chatbots have spurred certain young users to commit self-harm and suicide. Now, Character.AI says it’s throwing in the towel and has decided to ban young users from interacting with their chatbots at all.

Lately, the pressure on Character.AI has been immense. A lawsuit filed in Florida accuses the company of having contributed to the suicide of a teenager who heavily used the company’s services. In September, the Social Media Victims Law Center also sued Character Technologies, Character.AI’s parent company, on behalf of other families who similarly claim their children attempted or died by suicide or were harmed after interacting with the company’s chatbots. Another lawsuit filed in December of 2024 accused the company of providing inappropriate sexual content to their children.

Also potentially relevant to the company’s sudden shift in policy is the fact that Congress has had its eye on Character.AI’s activities. On Tuesday, Senators Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) introduced a bill that would have forced companies like Character.AI to do what it is now doing voluntarily. The bill, dubbed the GUARD Act, would force AI companies to institute age verification on their sites and block any user who is under 18 years old. The legislation was developed following testimony given before Congress by the parents who have accused Character’s bots of helping drive their children to suicide. “AI chatbots pose a serious threat to our kids,” Hawley told NBC News.

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Posted in: AI, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Legal Research, Legislative, Technology Trends, United States Law
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