We spoke to @BillGates about his new book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” the limits of his optimism, and how his thinking on climate change has evolved. This is a thread about that conversation.

Question: In the past, it seemed you would distance yourself from the policy side of climate change. Was there a shift in your thinking, or was it a deliberate choice to lay out the policy side in your book?
Q: How do you feel about our chances of making real political progress, particularly in the US, in the moment we find ourselves in?
Q: You’ve said a couple of times you’re optimistic, and that’s sort of famously your position on these things. But of course, optimism is a relative term. Do you think we can realistically hold warming to or below a 2 °C increase at this point?
Q: In the book you cover a broad array of hard-to-solve sectors. The one I still have the hardest time with, in terms of fully addressing it, is food. How hopeful are you about agriculture and climate emissions?
Q: Do you think plant-based and lab-grown meats could be the solution to the protein problem globally, even in poor nations? Or will it be some fraction because of the cultural love of a hamburger and the way livestock is so central to economies around the world?
Q: What’s your reaction to things like the Trillion Trees Initiative and the large number of corporations announcing plans to achieve negative emissions at least in part through reforestation and offsets? https://t.co/Wt4iIhtfPf
Q: What’s your reaction to things like the Trillion Trees Initiative and the large number of corporations announcing plans to achieve negative emissions at least in part through reforestation and offsets? https://t.co/jAFIwkaBqk
Microsoft is in the process of trying to eliminate its entire historic emissions. The company apparently wants to do it at $20 a ton? Do you think we can achieve reliable permanent carbon removal for $20 a ton eventually? https://t.co/B4cLaqSN0E
These quotes are excerpts from @jtemple's interview with @BillGates in December. Read the full Q&A here: https://t.co/A72BMVpSCr
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Recently, the @CNIL issued a decision regarding the GDPR compliance of an unknown French adtech company named "Vectaury". It may seem like small fry, but the decision has potential wide-ranging impacts for Google, the IAB framework, and today's adtech. It's thread time! 👇

It's all in French, but if you're up for it you can read:
• Their blog post (lacks the most interesting details):
https://t.co/PHkDcOT1hy
• Their high-level legal decision: https://t.co/hwpiEvjodt
• The full notification: https://t.co/QQB7rfynha

I've read it so you needn't!

Vectaury was collecting geolocation data in order to create profiles (eg. people who often go to this or that type of shop) so as to power ad targeting. They operate through embedded SDKs and ad bidding, making them invisible to users.

The @CNIL notes that profiling based off of geolocation presents particular risks since it reveals people's movements and habits. As risky, the processing requires consent — this will be the heart of their assessment.

Interesting point: they justify the decision in part because of how many people COULD be targeted in this way (rather than how many have — though they note that too). Because it's on a phone, and many have phones, it is considered large-scale processing no matter what.