Discussing bipartisan draft legislation that would direct a Department of Commerce study on the IoT, House lawmakers from both parties said Tuesday that Congress isn't paying enough attention to consumer privacy. The Digital Commerce Subcommittee held a hearing on draft legislation from Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said the State of Modern Application, Research and Trends of IoT (Smart) Act would produce for Congress a central source of information on how industry is integrating IoT devices and how the country is adapting.
Karl Herchenroeder
Karl Herchenroeder, Associate Editor, is a technology policy journalist for publications including Communications Daily. Born in Rockville, Maryland, he joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2018. He began his journalism career in 2012 at the Aspen Times in Aspen, Colorado, where he covered city government. After that, he covered the nuclear industry for ExchangeMonitor in Washington. You can follow Herchenroeder on Twitter: @karlherk
Establishing remote identification standards for unmanned aircraft is essential for addressing national security and privacy standards, lawmakers told us. A lobbyist said senior-level officials at the Department of Transportation and the FAA haven't shown any urgency.
Sponsors of the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV Start) Act (S-1885) will look to attach the bill to a legislation this summer, Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., told us. Meanwhile safety groups continue to warn against a rush to pass America’s first major federal autonomous vehicle legislation.
The FTC’s recently named Consumer Protection Bureau Director Andrew Smith told us Thursday his new job shouldn’t differ much from the compliance work he did for Equifax and Facebook, though he understands concern from the two Democratic commissioners who voted against his appointment.
Facebook has developed a platform that encourages misuse of user data, and Cambridge Analytica likely improperly supplied data to Russian groups and the Trump campaign (see 1803190056), former Cambridge Analytica Research Director Christopher Wylie told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday during a hearing on data privacy. Cambridge University scholar Aleksandr Kogan, the lead researcher Cambridge Analytica allegedly used to harvest the data, collaborated on physiological profiling campaigns for pro-Russian groups in St. Petersburg and likely allowed access to Facebook data, Wylie said. Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, requested Cambridge Analytica appear at the hearing, but the company declined, citing bankruptcy proceedings (see 1805020042).
The American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies Act (S-1885) is unlikely to get unanimous consent for expedited consideration, but there’s opportunity to attach it to a legislative vehicle this summer, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told us (see 1803230071). The FAA budget bill is one possibility, he said.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday aimed at modernizing government IT systems. The order focuses on defining roles and authorities of agency chief information officers. The federal government spends about $90 billion annually on IT. Trump "is drawing on the best practices from the private sector and empowering CIOs to lead the technology transformation at their agencies,” White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner told reporters. “This executive order is a critical foundation to delivering a more efficient, effective and accountable government.”
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said the broken music royalty system needs to be fixed, during a hearing Tuesday on the Music Modernization Act (MMA) (S-2823), proposed by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Lawmakers across the board expressed willingness to resolve any remaining issues and move forward with the bill, so artists can be properly compensated.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, asked the FTC to delay an appointment to lead the Consumer Protection Bureau. The lawmakers penned a Monday letter to Chairman Joseph Simons, saying Andrew Smith represented Equifax, Facebook, Uber and other companies that have been accused of “some of the worst abuses of consumers” and is therefore “unable to function as the FTC’s top consumer advocate.” The lawmakers cited a recent New York Times article, saying Smith would likely have to recuse himself from some of the agency’s highest profile cases, including the Facebook privacy breach and the Equifax data breach. Blumenthal told us Tuesday he hadn't received a response from the agency, nor was he given any indication why Simons supported the appointment. The FTC didn’t comment.
Social media platforms are “absolutely not” capable of self-regulating and protecting consumer privacy, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told us before Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing (see 1805100038). Durbin hopes Republicans realize what it will take to properly protect user data because platforms are free to collect sensitive information with little regard for consumer rights.