The White House Social Media Summit is July 11, a spokesperson emailed us. The Internet Association didn't comment. Earlier Wednesday, President Donald Trump alleged in a Fox News interview that some tech platforms like social media may filter out politically conservative views. Such concerns also came up in a hearing that day (see 1906260051).

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board voted to start three oversight projects. PCLOB said Wednesday it will review FBI searching data obtained under Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702, examining "procedures and technology used to record queries and ensure compliance with applicable rules." Another initiative will review use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies in aviation security, and the third deals with airline passenger name records. The three reviews were approved unanimously by PCLOB members, a spokesperson emailed us. Parts of Section 702 expire at year's end (see 1906260033).

Lacking consumer awareness and “low perceived product value remain significant problems for the smart home industry,” blogged Parks Associates analyst Patrice Samuels Tuesday. Limited information about smart home products led to “purchase avoidance,” Samuels said, saying builder and multi-dwelling unit channels could expose benefits of the technologies to consumers through installations in model homes and apartments. A fourth of U.S. broadband households believe a “move-in-ready house” would include smart home devices, said Parks, and among MDU residents, 19 percent see them as an “important consideration.” Among consumers who don't own or intend to buy smart home devices, 54 percent don’t perceive that the devices will benefit their lives, Parks said. Nearly a quarter of broadband homes own at least one smart home device.

PRBA-The Rechargeable Battery Association hopes the FTC considers safety issues “as it explores repair options associated with lithium ion batteries and the devices they power,” commented the group in docket FTC-2019-0013. The agency sought comments to prepare for a July 16 “Nixing the Fix” workshop on whether manufacturer restrictions on third-party repairs can thwart consumer protections in the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Monday was the first time the FTC posted the comments it received by the April 30 deadline. We had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all such documents (see 1906030020). Lithium ion batteries are “the chemistry of choice today for small, rechargeable consumer batteries,” said PRBA, whose members include Apple, Duracell, Energizer, LG Chem, Microsoft, Motorola, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony, plus automakers Ford, General Motors and Toyota. “These batteries are safe, popular, and enable innovative portable electronic devices to function in an efficient and safe manner.” The batteries, the devices they power and their “associated chargers” are “designed to operate as a ‘system’ with redundant and sophisticated safety components, said PRBA. “Lack of understanding of these critical safety components that can be damaged during repairs by consumers or poorly trained service centers could ultimately jeopardize the safety of consumers and the public in general.” Right-to-repair advocacy company iFixit had conceded “there’s always going to be some risk involved during a repair,” but said the risk mostly is “pretty low” (see this publication, May 17). It didn’t comment Tuesday.

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.