The FTC extended comments for review of endorsement guides (see 2001300058) Friday until June 22: The 60-day delay responded to “requests from potential commenters for additional time” due to COVID-19.
The FTC should compel information from technology, media and educational tech companies collecting children’s data, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Center for Digital Democracy wrote the agency Thursday. Citing increased video streaming due to COVID-19, the groups said the agency should target AT&T, Comcast, Google, Zoom, Disney, Viacom and edtech companies Edmodo and Prodigy. The groups suggested the agency use 6(b) authority to do a study. A 6(b) study carries subpoena authority, allowing the commission to request nonpublic information. The letter, sent by the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown Law, pertains to the agency’s review of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (see 1912120062). The commission should avoid actions “that could undermine strong protections for children’s privacy without full information about a complex data collection ecosystem,” the groups wrote. An FTC spokesperson confirmed the agency received the request.
Akamai is working with the Xbox and PlayStation platforms to avert COVID-19 online gridlock, CEO Tom Leighton blogged Tuesday. "Where demand is creating bottlenecks for customers, we will be reducing gaming software downloads at peak times, completing downloads at the normal fast speeds late at night," he wrote. The move "will help ensure healthcare workers and first responders ... have continual access to the vital digital services."
As social distancing and self-isolating increase across the U.S., demand for broadband could spike among households, said Parks Associates Tuesday. “Many people working at home and entertaining-in-place" puts "more stress on the home’s broadband capacity, so service providers need to step up their efforts to help customers better understand their throughput needs,” said Steve Nason. Customers will be more willing to upgrade speeds to match their increased consumption habits if providers give them information on what they need, said the analyst. Consumers have little understanding of how much speed they need and use at home, said Nason, noting demand for 1 Gbps and higher services is most prevalent among younger consumers who are heavy users of connected platforms and services. Meanwhile, 60% of U.S. households would cancel a pay-TV subscription before canceling broadband service, a portion that has likely increased amid COVID-19, said the research firm. Consumers with over-the-top video subscriptions are shifting away from internet bundles, said Nason, and are more likely to have stand-alone internet service than nonsubscribers.
A New York security and background check provider misrepresented its participation in Privacy Shield, the FTC alleged in a settlement Monday. T&M Protection Resources is prohibited from misrepresenting itself in the future, said commissioners 5-0. The company didn’t comment.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral argument in a mass surveillance case involving AT&T customers for 9:30 a.m. June 5 in Seattle (see 1508050058). The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed the lawsuit in Jewel v. NSA (19-16066) in 2008 on behalf of San Francisco resident Carolyn Jewel and other Bay Area AT&T customers challenging NSA collection of their communications, citing Fourth Amendment protections.
Disney Plus is set to become Europe’s third largest streaming service behind Netflix and Amazon Prime Video after it launches Tuesday in eight major markets, blogged Futuresource Friday. COVID-19's “stay-at-home directive,” plus new distribution partnerships, will drive “subscriber uptake” to reach “even higher levels than previously anticipated,” it said. But Futuresource predicts pent-up Disney Plus demand at launch in Europe will be lower than in the U.S., where the service signed on nearly 30 million paid subscribers in the 13 weeks after the Nov. 12 debut (see 2002040068). “The key challenge for Disney across all markets will be maintaining its growth in new subscriptions after such quick traction, whilst retaining its existing monthly subscribers,” said Futuresource. Its research found slightly more than half of Disney Plus European subscribers will be on monthly plans.
NTCA launched a cybersecurity information-sharing platform Thursday to help small broadband providers improve security. CyberShare provides subscribers daily and weekly reports, in-person and virtual meetings and a secure web platform. The platform is based on a pilot program administered by NTCA in 2019 with funding from the nonprofit National Institute of Hometown Security and the Department of Homeland Security.
Alphabet's Project Baseline by Verily reached capacity and can't schedule more coronavirus testing "at this time," said its website Wednesday. Appointments will continue to expand through this program as Verily scales capacity "in the near future," it said. It referred visitors to CDC guidelines. Google sister company Verily posted Monday that Project Baseline was working to deliver COVID-19 testing in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in California to the "highest risk populations as defined by the California Department of Public Health." Residents in the San Francisco Bay Area interested in getting tested were directed to an online screener, which appeared to exclude people who showed symptoms of COVID-19. Last week, President Donald Trump hailed a screening website Google was building, receiving widespread criticism for exaggerating its readiness. Sunday Google blogged it was working with the U.S. government on developing a website dedicated to COVID-19 education, prevention and local resources nationwide. That website hadn't launched Wednesday.
The White House credited the tech industry Wednesday for launching an online education website as part of the coronavirus response. Launched by the Software & Information Industry Association, TechforLearners.org provides a searchable online database to facilitate online teaching. The Office of Science and Technology Policy’s COVID-19 technology initiative called for online resources last week. It's an "important resource,” said Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios.