Eighty-eight percent of E-rate applicants expect bandwidth needs of schools and libraries to increase over the next three years, and 88 percent called Wi-Fi "extremely important" in fulfilling their mission, found a Funds for Learning survey of 1,763 such USF money seekers. The latter was up from 79 percent last year, and 82 percent said insufficient access to the internet at home is a significant issue in their community. The FCC is expected to release an NPRM this summer on updating Category 2 spending (see 1906190019).

A lawsuit against the Office of Personnel Management over 2015 data breaches can go forward, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday in saying the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union have standing to go forward with a class-action suit. The breach exposed Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information belonging to more than 21 million people who were involved in federal background checks (see 1601070058). The D.C. Circuit disagreed with a lower court ruling that said affected federal employees weren't at risk, and dismissed OPM's claims of sovereign immunity. The agency didn’t comment.

Office of Science and Technology updated its strategic plan for artificial intelligence R&D to reflect updates to the field and include a stronger emphasis on public-private partnerships, said a release Friday. “Agencies will use this Plan to guide their R&D activities in AI, consistent with their agencies’ missions.” The update adds public-private partnerships “as a key area for Federal R&D investment,” said Michael Kratsios, deputy assistant to the president for technology policy. The updated plan said agencies should expand their partnerships with academia, industry and other non-federal entities, plus promote investment and practical applications for AI. “Government-university-industry R&D partnerships bring pressing, real-world challenges faced by industry to university researchers, enabling ‘use-inspired research,’" the plan said: “The Nation also benefits from relationships between Federal agencies and international funders who can work together to address key challenges of mutual interest across a range of disciplines.” The plan “is a welcome update to the guidance federal funding agencies will use to ensure federal AI R&D dollars continue to have high-impact and high return on investment,” said the Center for Data Innovation. The National Science Foundation recently formed industry partnerships with companies like Amazon in line with the ideas in the updated plan, said NSF.

YouTube is working with Universal Music Group to remaster “iconic music videos,” with 100 available at launch in high-quality audio and video, blogged the Google company. Close to 1,000 remastered titles are due before the end of 2020. Some of the greatest music videos in YouTube’s catalog have been available only in the outdated standards originally intended for tube TVs with mono speakers, said the companies, which are upgrading videos to improve the viewing experience for mobile, desktop and living room screens. The new videos will replace the original versions on YouTube and within YouTube Music, retaining the same URL, view-counts and “likes,” they said Wednesday.

District of Columbia Superior Court should again deny Facebook’s request to block the city’s lawsuit (see 1906030055) over the platform’s data privacy practices, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine told the court Tuesday. “We believe the court got it right in May, when it denied Facebook’s attempt to dismiss the District’s case against it for failing to protect the data of nearly half of D.C. residents,” Racine said that evening. “Not surprisingly, Facebook is continuing to attempt to block our case. We are confident the court will again deny their request and allow our case to proceed.” The platform requested the court certify the case for interlocutory appeal and to stay proceedings pending appeal. A company spokesperson said the lawsuit is meritless: “Protecting people’s information and privacy is a top priority for us at Facebook, and we've taken a hard look at the information apps can use when you connect them to Facebook, as well as other data practices. We know we have more work to do.”

Apple users can go to the nearly 1,000 U.S. Best Buys for service and repair of the tech maker's products, completing its authorized service network expansion. Best Buy’s Geek Squad has nearly 7,600 newly Apple-certified technicians to make same-day iPhone repairs or service other Apple products, said the iPhone maker Wednesday. Best Buy, meanwhile, said its Geek Squad staffers and in-home advisers will accept certain electronics for recycling during house calls when they provide consultations or other tech support. Customers can still recycle most electronics including phones, laptops and tablets for free in Best Buy stores.

Streaming accounts for more than 80 percent of stolen and shared content globally, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported Tuesday. About “26.6 billion viewings of U.S.-produced movies and 126.7 billion viewings of U.S.-produced TV episodes are digitally pirated” annually, said the report.

Facebook and Spotify announced participation in the Libra Association Tuesday, enabling users to pay for services using cryptocurrency. Libra was founded to create a “simple, global currency and financial infrastructure,” and it will enable Spotify users to directly access audio they want anytime, anywhere and “at the right price,” blogged the streaming music company. Libra offers “massive opportunity for simple, convenient, and safe payment over the internet," particularly for the 1.7 billion adults worldwide without access to mobile money, a bank account or a payment card, Spotify said, citing developing markets. A challenge for Spotify and its global users has been the lack of easily accessible payment systems, creating a barrier between creators and fans, especially in financially underserved markets, said Alex Norstrom, chief premium business officer. It's an opportunity to “better reach Spotify’s total addressable market, eliminate friction and enable payments in mass scale,” said Norstrom. Facebook, meanwhile, plans to launch a digital wallet, scheduled for 2020, that will be available in Messenger, WhatsApp and as a stand-alone app. "If you have an internet connection today, you can access all kinds of useful services for little to no cost -- whether you’re trying to keep in touch with family and friends, learn new things or even start a business,” blogged the company. For many people, even basic financial services are “out of reach,” Facebook said, saying nearly half of adults in the world don’t have an active bank account, mostly women and people in developing countries. Some 70 percent of small businesses in developing countries lack access to credit, Facebook said, and $25 billion is lost annually by migrants due to remittance fees.

The EU’s general data protection regulation is failing to increase online consumer trust, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s Center for Data Innovation argued Monday. ITIF cited articles and reports discrediting the GDPR as failing to fulfill its intended purpose. Four of five Europeans “who provide personal information online feel they have no control or partial control over this information,” ITIF said, citing European Commission data from June. Companies “reported spending an average of $1.3 million in 2017 on GDPR compliance and were expected to spend an additional $1.8 million in 2018,” ITIF said, citing a 2018 report from the International Association of Privacy Professionals and Ernst & Young.

Four agencies need to strengthen online identity verification, GAO reported Friday. It recommended the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Social Security Administration, U.S. Postal Service and Veterans Administration discontinue using knowledge-based verification, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology provide guidance to assist agencies in adopting more-secure processes for proving identity remotely. It recommended OMB require agencies report progress in adopting secure practices. Only Health and Human Services, on behalf of CMS, disagreed with the recommendations. The department doesn't "believe that the available alternatives to knowledge-based verification were feasible for the individuals it serves,” the report said. Some of those alternatives require cellphones, HHS responded. The General Services Administration and the IRS use alternative methods, said GAO.