The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will issue its Section 301 investigation report and “any proposed action in the investigation” Monday on France’s digital service tax (DST), said the agency Wednesday. Tech firms and trade associations blasted the DST during the summer as a radical departure from international norm that discriminates against U.S. companies and undermines efforts to reach global, multilateral consensus on the digital economy (see 1908190043). France’s DST “invites other trading partners to similarly disregard their international commitments and move forward with their own proposed taxes,” said the Computer & Communications Industry Association Wednesday. “A timely, proportionate and impactful response is needed by the U.S. to send a message that our trading partners may not single out American enterprises for discriminatory treatment.”
DOJ will do annual privacy reviews of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) programs and assessments, the department said Wednesday in its updated policy on UAS use. Requirements include new DOJ limits on data retention, “generally requiring privacy sensitive data to be deleted within 180 days, unless certain exceptions are met.” New policies also require “components to evaluate UAS acquisitions for cybersecurity risks, guarding against potential threats to the supply chain and DOJ’s networks.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology approved environmental sensing capability sensor deployment and coverage plans from three ESC operators for the 3.5 GHz band: CommScope, Federated Wireless and Google. So said a public notice Tuesday for docket 15-319.
A quarter of U.S. online shoppers plan to use a smartphone for holiday shopping this year, reported NPD Monday. “Smaller mobile screens have been taking on more of the shopping workload in recent years.” Consumers increasingly are embracing “smartphone conveniences” that can benefit physical retailers, it said. It estimates 22 percent of consumers used a smartphone app to pay for in-store holiday purchases last year, and 39 percent of those plan to use apps more often this year.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and six other Republican senators urged President Donald Trump to impose sanctions against Iranian government officials responsible for blocking the country’s internet access for several days this month after anti-regime protests, and work to fully restore that access. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iran Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi last week for the blackout. Iranian “officials have also shut down access to the Internet across Iran to hide the extent and scope of their brutal crackdown from the Iranian people and the world,” Cruz et al. wrote Monday. “The White House has clearly and strongly condemned ‘the lethal force and severe communications restrictions used against demonstrators,’ and we call on you to use the full array of tools available to the administration to build on that condemnation.” Others signing were Senate GOP Conference Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, John Cornyn of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Marco Rubio of Florida and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
The U.S. is 24 years “behind on technology” because the Office of Technology Assessment was shuttered, candidate Andrew Yang said during Wednesday evening’s Democratic presidential primary debate, citing China as a threat. The U.S. is in the “process of potentially losing the [artificial intelligence] arms race to China right now, because they have more access to more data than we do,” he said, noting the billions China has spent subsidizing AI development. It was the only mention of tech and telecom policy issues. OTA closed in 1995.
The Commerce Department hopes to release proposed controls on emerging technology exports “in the next couple weeks,” said Matt Borman, deputy undersecretary for export administration. “We’ve got a set that we’re working on in internal review,” he told a Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday. “So we’re hoping to get those through interagency [review] and out for public comment in the next couple weeks.” Officials have said for months the controls would be released soon, and companies and trade groups are growing concerned (see 1911070026). Also at the meeting, Borman said decisions on Huawei license applications are coming (see 1911210027).
Federal investment in artificial intelligence has “generated impactful breakthroughs” across 23 federal agencies, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said Wednesday in its 2016-2019 Progress Report on Advancing Artificial Intelligence Research and Development. The Trump administration requested nearly $1 billion in nondefense spending on artificial intelligence R&D for FY 2020 (see 1909100032). Agencies include the Departments of Homeland Security and Transportation and National Institute of Standards and Technology. “We are proud of the breadth and depth of Federal AI investments to ensure increased prosperity, safety, security, and quality of life for the American people for decades to come,” said Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios.
The biggest threat to securing data stored in the cloud “is the cloud itself,” reported Sophos Tuesday. “Some businesses have found that pouring all their most precious information into a virtualized data store led to inadvertent, gigantic breaches of that data, sometimes in the most public and damaging ways possible,” said the cybersecurity company. The “threat model” of protecting data stored in the cloud is “quite different” from that of physical workstations or servers, and requires “a very different" tool set, it said. “The very thing that makes the cloud a great platform for computing and business operations also creates some of its greatest challenges.” Identifying and controlling threats to cloud data “becomes exponentially more difficult,” it said. “Flexibility” is key with cloud computing, but it can “come back to bite you later,” said Sophos. “One false step can lead to an administrator inadvertently opening up their entire customer database to exposure.”
That “tech topics” will be “front and center” in the U.S. elections is one of 10 “trends to watch” for 2020, reported CompTIA Tuesday. “There are challenges posed as a result of tech’s larger impact on the economy and deeper integration with society,” and the 2020 U.S. election “cycle” will “put a spotlight” on many of these issues, it said. “Despite the overwhelming consumer and business benefits” that the information technology industry enables, CompTIA data shows seven of 10 firms in the business of selling technology “fear that a negative perception of the tech industry is gaining momentum across the country and becoming more of an issue in general,” it said. Increased worries over privacy “and how information is being collected and used could impact voters’ decisions,” it said. “Other issues might also join the discussion this election cycle, including cybersecurity, automation, artificial intelligence, net neutrality, and technology’s role in mitigating climate change.” CompTIA also predicts 2020 will be the year when “hype meets reality with emerging technology,” it said. “Even amid all the hype, companies in the business of technology are starting to pull back on adopting new technology as part of their portfolio,” it said. “This slight tap on the brakes suggests that classic situation where companies move too quickly into a new technology discipline or business model only to have a reality check in year two or three.”