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Senator urges Uber to stop forced arbitration in sexual assault cases
A CNN investigation recently revealed that Uber has had at least 103 different sexual assault cases filed against its drivers in the past four years. What's worse is that Uber has also reportedly forced victims to settle their cases via arbitration rather than open court, a move which helps keep the epidemic silent. Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal is now calling on the company to release the survivors of these assaults from these agreements and allow them to seek justice in court.
Tumblr and Etsy among those posting ‘red alerts’ for net neutrality
Fight for the Future has announced another day of action aimed at encouraging support of a Congressional vote to overturn the FCC's removal of net neutrality protections. In December, the FCC voted to overturn Obama-era net neutrality protections, a decision that was published in the Federal Register on February 22nd. The Senate has 60 days from that date to overturn the decision, as per the Congressional Review Act, and Democrats are planning to take the procedural step to force such a vote on May 9th. Between May 9th and the vote, BattleForTheNet.com is calling for websites to "go red" as part of its Red Alert for Net Neutrality Campaign.
Senate Democrats plan to force vote on net neutrality May 9th
Democrats in Congress have been against the FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules from the beginning. They've had the signatures in favor of restoring the rules since January, along with a companion House bill (with 80 co-sponsors). Senator Edward J. Markey also introduced a formal Congressional Review Act "resolution of disapproval" in February. Now, Markey tweeted that Democrats will force a floor vote restore the rules on May 9th.
Senate bill would require clearly worded terms for online data privacy
Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Kennedy (R-LA) have introduced a new bill aimed at protecting consumers' online data privacy. They announced plans for such a bill earlier this month after Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress. "Every day companies profit off of the data they're collecting from Americans, yet leave consumers completely in the dark about how their personal information, online behavior, and private messages are being used," Senator Klobuchar said in a statement. "Consumers should have the right to control their personal data and that means allowing them to opt out of having their data collected and tracked and alerting them within 72 hours when a privacy violation occurs and their personal information may be compromised. The digital space can't keep operating like the Wild West at the expense of our privacy."
Senators plan privacy legislation following Zuckerberg hearings
Following Mark Zuckerberg's hearings earlier this week, two Senators have announced legislation they plan to introduce regarding the protection of consumers' online data, 9to5Mac reports. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Kennedy (R-LA) will propose regulations that would increase transparency, give consumers more control after their data has been breached and make sure companies like Facebook are working within privacy policies that protect consumers and their data. "The data breach at Facebook showed the world that the digital promised land is not all milk and honey. We've discovered some impurities in the punch bowl," Senator Kennedy said in a statement. "I don't want to regulate Facebook half to death, but there are things that need to be changed. Our bill will help protect Americans' online data fingerprint."
The Zuckerberg hearings were a wasted opportunity
Over the past two days, members of Congress have peppered Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg with questions about how the platform manages users' privacy, what went wrong with Cambridge Analytica and what it's doing to strengthen protections going forward. These two hearings lasted more than 10 hours combined, and dozens of senators and representatives had a chance to ask questions in five- and four-minute allotments, respectively. Until this week, Congress had tried for years to get Zuckerberg to personally appear on Capitol Hill, instead of, say, dispatching another company executive. It's a shame, then, that the lawmakers ultimately squandered the time they had with him this week.
Facebook didn't report initial Cambridge Analytica data use to FTC
During his first hearing in Washington, DC this week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that the company didn't alert the FTC to the initial Cambridge Analytica leak in 2015. When answering questions from several senators during his testimony, Zuckerberg explained that after Facebook first learned that Cambridge Analytica was in possession of user data from the "Thisisyourdigitallife" app, it "considered it a closed case" when the data company said it had deleted any unauthorized info. The CEO admitted that it was a mistake to take Cambridge Analytica's word for it, but that the company didn't feel that any further action was required.
Facebook CEO pledges to work with Senate on proposed regulations
As Zuckerberg's Senate testimony continues, the question of regulation came up, as expected. Senator Lindsey Graham asked the CEO about his stance on legislation that would regulate platforms like Facebook and Zuckerberg said that if it was the right regulation, he and Facebook would welcome it. Additionally, Graham asked if Zuckerberg and his team would be willing to suggest some legislation regarding social media legislation and the CEO said he would send proposals to Graham's office.
Senate plans hearing on Cambridge Analytica's misuse of Facebook data
It's not just Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg facing close scrutiny from Congress over the Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal. Senator John Thune has stated that the Senate Commerce Committee plans to hold a hearing on Cambridge Analytica and "similar firms" that might have obtained Facebook data without permission. There are "plenty of questions" about what Cambridge Analytica did, Senator Thune said.
Zuckerberg says a 'version' of Facebook will always be free
Mark Zuckerberg is testifying today before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, answering questions from 44 Senators about Facebook's data managing practices, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the use of its platform by foreign groups attempting to influence US elections. During his questioning today, Senator Orrin Hatch harkened back to Zuckerberg's first visit to Capitol Hill in 2010 where he said that Facebook would always be free. Zuckerberg then responded that a version of Facebook would always be free, leaving open the interpretation that the platform could one day charge a fee.
Mark Zuckerberg will testify at a joint Senate hearing on April 10th
As details of the Cambridge Analytica scandal emerged, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was asked to testify before multiple Congressional committees as well as the UK Parliament. Earlier this week, the US House of Representatives confirmed that Zuckerberg had agreed to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 11th and now, the Senate has announced that the CEO will also testify at a joint Senate hearing. On April 10th, Zuckerberg will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Senate committee asks Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify on privacy
The list of people that want to hear from social media giants in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal keeps getting longer. Senator Ron Wyden wants to know how the data collection happened in the first place, and Facebook talked to Congressional staffers last week. The FTC is investigating the whole debacle, as well. Mark Zuckerberg is predictably sorry. Now the Senate Judiciary Committee has invited the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify on April 10th over data privacy procedures.
Facebook plans to brief Congress on the Cambridge Analytica scandal
Facebook is obviously in some very hot water in regards to Cambridge Analytica's use of its users' data. US Congress, the UK Parliament and even the FTC are looking for answers and Facebook is now agreeing to answer them. A company spokesperson has told us that Facebook representatives will be in Washington DC today and tomorrow meeting with staffers for the House and Senate Intel Committees, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Senate Commerce Committee and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Bloomberg reports that details on committee briefings are being worked out.
Congress wants answers from Facebook about Cambridge Analytica
You knew it was just a matter of time before Congress joined those investigating Facebook's data sharing debacle, even if it's only in a tentative way. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg asking him to explain how Cambridge Analytica ended up with data on 50 million people, most of them without permission. In addition to details of the incident itself, Wyden wants to know why Facebook didn't drop Cambridge Analytica when it learned of the collection in 2015, whether the data was used for targeted ads and how this could happen despite the FTC decree limiting Facebook's data collection and sharing activities.
Senate set to approve bill that would make credit freezes free
In the aftermath of last year's Equifax data breach, a handful of Senators led by Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill that would allow consumers to freeze their credit at any time for free. Now the Senate appears to be set to approve a broader banking bill that includes that stipulation, the Wall Street Journal reports. Currently, eight states and Washington DC require credit-reporting agencies like Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to provide credit freezes at no cost to the consumer while the other 42 states allow those companies to charge fees in most cases. But this bill, on track to be approved by the Senate next week, would make it so all consumers across the country could request and end a credit freeze without having to pay any fees to do so.
The Senate has its own insincere net neutrality bill
Now that the House of Representatives has floated a superficial net neutrality bill, it's the Senate's turn. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy has introduced a companion version of the Open Internet Preservation Act that effectively replicates the House measure put forward by Tennessee Representative Marsha Blackburn. As before, it supports net neutrality only on a basic level -- and there are provisions that would make it difficult to combat other abuses.
Senate officially introduces resolution to restore net neutrality
Last week, the FCC officially published its net neutrality rollback plans, which were voted on back in December. Today, the next stage of the battle begins. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) has introduced his Congressional Review Act "resolution of disapproval" that would begin the process of undoing the FCC's vote.
Equifax breach may have exposed more data than first thought
The 2017 Equifax data breach was already extremely serious by itself, but there are hints it was somehow worse. CNN has learned that Equifax told the US Senate Banking Committee that more data may have been exposed than initially determined. The hack may have compromised more driver's license info, such as the issuing data and host state, as well as tax IDs. In theory, it would be that much easier for intruders to commit fraud.
Tumblr, Sonos among those backing another net neutrality day of action
A number of organizations and websites are planning an online day of action meant to garner more support for a Senate vote that would reverse the FCC's removal of net neutrality protections. The Senate is currently one vote away from overturning the FCC's decision and the day of action aims to convince one more Senator to vote in favor of protecting net neutrality. Taking place on February 27th, Operation: #OneMoreVote is already backed by companies like Tumblr, Etsy, Vimeo, Medium, Imgur, Sonos, Namecheap and DuckDuckGo.
Facebook: Russian trolls created 129 event posts during 2016 election
On Thursday the Senate Intelligence committee released information from Facebook, Google and Twitter responding to Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election. In its statement, Facebook noted that Russian "Internet Research Agency" (IRA) troll accounts set up 129 events across 12 pages, that were viewed by over 338,000 accounts, with 62,500 saying they were going. What isn't known is how many people actually went to these events, many of which were set up to inflame opposing groups on topics such as Black Lives Matter or immigration.
