Privacy advocates began sniping hours after the Senate Intelligence Committee cleared proposed surveillance legislation Thursday. It sets the stage for a Senate fight over whether to end or preserve the National Security Agency’s bulk phone metadata surveillance program. Naysayers in the 11-4 committee vote (WID Nov 1 p3) also began slamming the FISA Improvements Act of 2013 (http://1.usa.gov/1gfiYfO), a major effort from Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Feinstein and committee Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., praised its merits Thursday, and other members touted their amendments.

A new code of conduct for in-store data collection via consumers’ mobile devices is a positive step for consumer privacy, but contains major loopholes and enforcement concerns, said privacy advocates, lawmakers and industry analysts interviewed Tuesday. The Future of Privacy Forum -- backed by many location analytics groups -- and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unveiled the new code (http://bit.ly/1cbMan9) in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle Tuesday. No retailers have signed on to the code. Introducing in-store signs alerting customers to the tracking technology in use and providing opt-out instructions are at the code’s core. Some privacy advocates balked at the default opt-in for some data collection and the code’s limited reach, saying these issues were best handled through legislation.

A new code of conduct for in-store data collection via consumers’ mobile devices is a positive step for consumer privacy, but contains major loopholes and enforcement concerns, said privacy advocates, lawmakers and industry analysts interviewed Tuesday. The Future of Privacy Forum -- backed by many location analytics groups -- and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unveiled the new code (http://bit.ly/1cbMan9) in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle Tuesday. No retailers have signed on to the code. Introducing in-store signs alerting customers to the tracking technology in use and providing opt-out instructions are at the code’s core. Some privacy advocates balked at the default opt-in for some data collection and the code’s limited reach, saying these issues were best handled through legislation.

Some email providers are taking small steps to improve their security by offering better encryption services amid revelations about National Security Agency surveillance practices, experts with several Washington advocacy groups told us. Following new revelations early this week, Yahoo said it will make Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption standard for all users starting Jan. 8 (http://bit.ly/1bWY1Fm). That announcement is overdue, and other email providers aren’t doing enough, experts said. Our informal survey found ISPs show wide disparity in the levels of encryption available to users.

Some email providers are taking small steps to improve their security by offering better encryption services amid revelations about National Security Agency surveillance practices, experts with several Washington advocacy groups told us. Following new revelations early this week, Yahoo said it will make Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption standard for all users starting Jan. 8 (http://bit.ly/1bWY1Fm). That announcement is overdue, and other email providers aren’t doing enough, experts said. Our informal survey found ISPs show wide disparity in the levels of encryption available to users.

U.S. phone surveillance received another green light, as key lawmakers remain divided on the best ways to move forward with the program. Multiple Democrats and Republicans in both houses of Congress have expressed intentions to end the bulk collection of phone metadata, a push expected to gain momentum once the government shutdown ends. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court also gave the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee more information about how the court handles government requests for surveillance authority, saying the FISC often significantly tweaks them.

U.S. phone surveillance received another green light, as key lawmakers remain divided on the best ways to move forward with the program. Multiple Democrats and Republicans in both houses of Congress have expressed intentions to end the bulk collection of phone metadata, a push expected to gain momentum once the government shutdown ends. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court also gave the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee more information about how the court handles government requests for surveillance authority, saying the FISC often significantly tweaks them.

Two members of the Global Network Initiative said Friday they will remain in the multistakeholder information and communications technology group after the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a founding member of the group, resigned Thursday. GNI, which advocates for free expression and Internet privacy, is known for creating a code of conduct for its members to use overseas to mitigate “government demands for censorship and disclosure of users’ personal information. EFF said it “no longer believes we can sign our name onto joint statements that rely on shared knowledge of the security” of GNI member companies’ products or internal processes because gag orders on some of those companies bar them from disclosing U.S. government interference in their security practices brought to light in recent disclosures about National Security Agency surveillance programs. GNI’s member corporations include Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Yahoo. “We know that many within the industry do not like or approve of such government interference, and GNI has, in statements, made it clear that member companies want permission from the U.S. government to engage in greater transparency,” said EFF International Director Danny O'Brien and Director for International Freedom of Expression Jillian York in a letter to GNI leaders. GNI had asked the U.S. and other member governments in the Freedom Online Coalition to allow the disclosure of surveillance requests. “However, until serious reforms of the U.S. surveillance programs are in place, we no longer feel comfortable participating in the GNI process when we are not privy to the serious compromises GNI corporate members may be forced to make,” O'Brien and York said in the letter. EFF will “continue to share information and work closely” with GNI, but as an external entity, O'Brien and York said (http://bit.ly/19FHUKC). Center for Democracy and Technology President Leslie Harris said in a statement Friday that CDT is “committed to GNI and to its multistakeholder approach to addressing the difficult privacy and free expression challenges faced by companies on the global Internet.” Rebecca MacKinnon, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation who also participates in GNI as an individual, told us in an email she has “no intention” of leaving GNI. She said she continues to have faith in “GNI’s mission and in the positive impact it has already begun to have -- and which will only strengthen over time. No progress is easy and the road to our ultimate goal -- a global ICT sector that maximizes respect for free expression and privacy -- is neither straight nor flat nor without major potholes. We are in a marathon, not a sprint. I don’t quit when the going gets difficult. With the Snowden revelations, we've certainly hit a rough section that is also on a steep incline. That does not mean the road should not be traveled.” GNI said in a statement that it appreciates EFF’s contributions to the group and “we look forward to working with them outside our formal structure to protect rights online.” GNI is “actively calling for transparency from governments on surveillance. These challenges make GNI’s work to advance freedom of expression and privacy rights more important than ever.”

Two members of the Global Network Initiative said Friday they will remain in the multistakeholder information and communications technology group after the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a founding member of the group, resigned Thursday. GNI, which advocates for free expression and Internet privacy, is known for creating a code of conduct for its members to use overseas to mitigate “government demands for censorship and disclosure of users’ personal information. EFF said it “no longer believes we can sign our name onto joint statements that rely on shared knowledge of the security” of GNI member companies’ products or internal processes because gag orders on some of those companies bar them from disclosing U.S. government interference in their security practices brought to light in recent disclosures about National Security Agency surveillance programs. GNI’s member corporations include Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Yahoo. “We know that many within the industry do not like or approve of such government interference, and GNI has, in statements, made it clear that member companies want permission from the U.S. government to engage in greater transparency,” said EFF International Director Danny O'Brien and Director for International Freedom of Expression Jillian York in a letter to GNI leaders. GNI had asked the U.S. and other member governments in the Freedom Online Coalition to allow the disclosure of surveillance requests. “However, until serious reforms of the U.S. surveillance programs are in place, we no longer feel comfortable participating in the GNI process when we are not privy to the serious compromises GNI corporate members may be forced to make,” O'Brien and York said in the letter. EFF will “continue to share information and work closely” with GNI, but as an external entity, O'Brien and York said (http://bit.ly/19FHUKC). Center for Democracy and Technology President Leslie Harris said in a statement Friday that CDT is “committed to GNI and to its multistakeholder approach to addressing the difficult privacy and free expression challenges faced by companies on the global Internet.” Rebecca MacKinnon, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation who also participates in GNI as an individual, told us in an email she has “no intention” of leaving GNI. She said she continues to have faith in “GNI’s mission and in the positive impact it has already begun to have -- and which will only strengthen over time. No progress is easy and the road to our ultimate goal -- a global ICT sector that maximizes respect for free expression and privacy -- is neither straight nor flat nor without major potholes. We are in a marathon, not a sprint. I don’t quit when the going gets difficult. With the Snowden revelations, we've certainly hit a rough section that is also on a steep incline. That does not mean the road should not be traveled.” GNI said in a statement that it appreciates EFF’s contributions to the group and “we look forward to working with them outside our formal structure to protect rights online.” GNI is “actively calling for transparency from governments on surveillance. These challenges make GNI’s work to advance freedom of expression and privacy rights more important than ever.”

Respondents to a Do Not Track discussion poll asking how and if the World Wide Web Coalition-facilitated group should continue have expressed a desire to forge ahead with W3C talks, we found based on publicly posted comments and interviews with stakeholders. But some respondents and stakeholders interviewed expressed reservations at the group’s ability to produce usable DNT guidelines, with several calling for total disbandment. The poll closes roughly three weeks after Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) pulled out of the talks (CD Sept 18 p7) and decided to start its own series of discussions, which begin Thursday with a meeting in San Francisco.