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Senators want Congressional hacks to be public knowledge
When a company is hacked, consumers usually find out about it through the press or emails. You probably remember the Target hack that spilled data from millions of credit and debit card accounts. But do you remember the last publicly disclosed Congressional computer breach? (It was in 2009.) That's because Congress doesn't have to report when representatives' networks are hacked. Two Senators want to change that.
Senate bill proposes stricter privacy controls for children
Some politicians don't believe the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act does enough to protect kids in the modern era, and they're hoping to update it accordingly. Senators Ed Markey and Josh Hawley have introduced a bill that would amend COPPA with stricter controls on kids' data. It would ban ads targeted at kids, and would require an "Eraser Button" that would let kids and parents wipe data. The measure would still ban the collection of personal data for kids under 13 without their parents' consent, but it would also ban collecting data from the 13- to 15-year-old crowd without the user's permission.
Democrats introduce bill to restore net neutrality
Democrats have revealed a bill that aims to restore net neutrality rules. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were among the senators and congresspeople who announced the Save the Internet Act Wednesday. It's being introduced in both the House and the Senate and aims to codify the previous protections in law. Schumer called it a "real bipartisan effort," and hearings on the legislation are set to begin next week.
US bills would ban exports to Chinese telecoms that violate sanctions
American politicians want to crack down further on Chinese telecoms like Huawei and ZTE. Members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate have introduced bills that would order the President to impose export bans on Chinese telecoms found to violate US export and sanctions laws. Companies like Huawei and ZTE are a "growing threat to American national security," according to co-sponsor Rep. Mike Gallagher, and they should face the same punishment that ZTE faced before its reprieves.
Facebook suspends accounts for pushing false info in Alabama election
Facebook's attempt to thwart disinformation campaigns has typically focused on Russia and other hostile countries, but it's now grappling with that problem on its home soil. The site has confirmed to the Washington Post that it suspended five accounts for "coordinated inauthentic behavior" during the 2017 Alabama special election for the Senate, including the CEO of social media research company New Knowledge.
Senate report details Russia's online meddling in 2016 election
The US Senate is about to receive a report detailing Russia's online manipulation attempts during and after the 2016 Presidential election, and it promises to shed new light on the subject... including a lack of evidence from the internet giants themselves. The research, conducted by both Oxford University and network analysis company Graphika, outlines some familiar strategies. The Russians "clearly sought to benefit" the Republicans, rallying support for Trump on social networks while trying to "confuse, distract and ultimately discourage" Trump's opponents. It also notes that Russia's digital influence plans started with Twitter, but quickly expanded to Instagram and YouTube -- Facebook actually came last. They also tried smaller social networks like Google+, Pinterest and Tumblr (owned by Engadget parent company Verizon) as well as email.
After Math: Where are the adults
It's been quite the week of tantrums by the man-babies who run some of the largest companies in the tech industry. While Elon Musk cried and stamped his feet through what should have been a softball 60 Minutes interview, Twitter head Jack Dorsey spent much of his week encouraging everybody to visit sunny, genocidal Myanmar. And let's not even get started on what have become Mark Zuckerberg's weekly Facebook fiascos. Still, it's nice to see that at least some online institutions still have grownups behind the wheel.
Senate Democrats introduce bill to protect your online data
A group of 15 Democratic senators have unveiled a bill that aims to protect your online data. They noted that banks, doctors and lawyers are all required to protect your personal information, and argue websites, apps and other online services should also have to "take responsible steps to safeguard personal information and stop the misuse of users' data."
Senate bill takes aim at illegal robocalls
Three senators have proposed new legislation aimed at deterring robocall scams. The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, or TRACED, Act would give the FCC broader authority to penalize those that violate telemarketing restrictions, give the commission a longer window in which to act and establish an interagency working group that would explore additional actions that might deter robocall scams going forward. "As the scourge of spoofed calls and robocalls reaches epidemic levels, the bipartisan TRACED Act will provide every person with a phone much needed relief," Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), a cosponsor of the proposed legislation, said in a statement. "It's a simple formula: call authentication, blocking and enforcement, and this bill achieves all three."
The Senate is considering extending EV tax credits
As US senate majority leader Mitch McConnell debates making cuts to social security and medicare, Senator Dean Heller (R) of Nevada is hoping to keep electric car sales zipping forward with a new bill that would extend tax credits until 2022.
Congress seeks more information on the Google+ data exposure
Since the Google+ data exposure came to light earlier this week, European regulatory authorities have announced investigations into the matter and a US Senator has called for an FTC probe. Now, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has sent the company a letter requesting more information about the incident and Google's decision to keep it under wraps.
Senator calls for FTC investigation into Google+ data exposure
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said during a Congressional hearing today on consumer data privacy that he's calling for an investigation into Google's latest data exposure. During his questioning of those testifying before the committee -- which included Andrea Jelinek, chair of the European Data Protection Board, and Alastair Mactaggart, the real estate developer who introduced a consumer privacy ballot measure in California -- he called the Google+ data exposure "the elephant in the room" and emphasized the need for greater consumer privacy protections in the US.
Senators demand answers over Chinese 'spy chip' fears (updated)
Apple may have tried to reassure Congress that there's no evidence of China tampering with servers to spy on data traffic, but it didn't do much to quell doubts. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marco Rubio have sent a letter to Super Micro demanding answers around allegations of Chinese spy chips. The duo wants to know if Super Micro has monitored and investigated its supply chain for signs of tampering, and is particularly interested in February 2017 statements to The Information that it had independent auditors look over its "process" and make changes following Apple's claims of security holes. If Super Micro conducted an investigation, the senators asked, what were the results?
Senate bill would boost AI adoption in federal government
The US government is only dabbling in artificial intelligence at the moment. It might make a larger commitment before long, however. A bipartisan group of senators (Brian Schatz, Cory Gardner and Rob Portman) have introduced an AI in Government Act that would increase federal AI adoption by both including AI in data-related plans and supplying the resources to make those plans a reality. Thankfully, this isn't just a question of throwing money at the problem -- it would have multiple government organizations shift more attention to the emerging technology.
Google confirms secret Dragonfly project, but won’t say what it is
Representatives from a number of major tech companies appeared before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Energy and Transportation today, discussing data privacy and concerns over consumer protection. Google sent its new chief privacy officer, Keith Enright, to the hearing, who was questioned multiple times over rumors that Google is working on a censored search engine for China. VentureBeat reports that Enright confirmed a project codenamed Dragonfly, though he stopped short of discussing what that project entailed. "I am not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of scope for that project," Enright told Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Google discusses privacy regulation ahead of Senate hearing
On Wednesday, a number of tech companies, including Apple, AT&T, Amazon, Twitter and Charter, will discuss data privacy before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Google will be there as well, represented by its new chief privacy officer, Keith Enright. In a blog post, Enright, who previously led Google's privacy legal team, discussed his new role and shared the company's thoughts on what data protection regulation should look like in the US.
Lawmakers want to expand AMBER Alerts to US territories
Two US lawmakers have introduced legislation that would help expand the AMBER Alert system to all territories, which include American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Marianas Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Established nationally in 2003, the system sends alerts over TV, radio, digital billboards and cellphones and has helped find more than 900 missing children across the US. "AMBER Alerts have helped save hundreds of children. There's no good reason for US territories to be excluded from this system," said Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), who introduced the bill along with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). "With this bill, we can help children and their families quickly end the nightmare that is child abduction."
Google responds to lawmaker concerns over Gmail scanning
In July, Senators John Thune (R-SD), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) sent Google a letter that sought information on Google's practice of allowing third-party app developers access to its users' emails. While Google stopped scanning Gmail messages for ad-targeting purposes earlier this year, it still offers access to others if users give their consent. Now, Google has replied to the lawmakers' letter.
US Senate passes bill modernizing music licensing and payouts
The US Senate has unanimously passed the Music Modernization Act, which aims to bring the way the music business works in line with the digital age. Providing the bill is met with approval from the House, and is subsequently signed by President Donald Trump, the legislation -- renamed the Orrin G Hatch Music Modernization Act in honour of the Republican senior senator responsible for introducing the bill -- will finally be enshrined into law. It's not expected to meet any opposition.
Apple and Google will testify to Senate on data privacy September 26th
More tech companies are about to face congressional scrutiny. Leaders from Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Charter and Google are scheduled to testify before a US Senate panel at a data privacy hearing on September 26th. Senators will grill the companies on their existing approaches to privacy, how Congress can press for "clear privacy expectations" and how firms will adapt to stricter requirements like the European Union's GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.