Democratic lawmakers Thursday introduced a resolution supporting what they call “guidelines for the ethical development” of artificial intelligence. Sponsored by Michigan’s Brenda Lawrence and California’s Ro Khanna, House Res.153 supports privacy of personal data, transparency, accountability and oversight of automated decision-making, and “helping to empower” the underrepresented. “To realize the full potential of AI, we must ensure that government, industry, academia, and organizations dedicated to protecting privacy, civil rights, and liberties work together to develop AI in an ethical and transparent manner,” said Lawrence, calling the resolution “the first step.” Congress must “ensure that technology is implemented with thoughtful guidance given the shifting scope of privacy protections in the digital economy,” said Khanna. BSA|The Software Alliance, Future of Life Institute, IBM and Facebook applauded. BSA said it's pleased the resolution tracked closely with its own guidelines. Co-sponsors are Florida's Darren Soto and Charlie Crist, Illinois' Daniel Lipinski and Robin Kelly, Michigan's Haley Stevens, Washington's Suzan DelBene and New York's Grace Meng, all Democrats. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Thursday tweeted that "AI technology should develop in America, with our values, interests, and priorities."
The FTC's creating a tech competition task force indicates the agency (see 1902260052) could take enforcement action against one or more companies in the next year or two, Cowen’s Paul Gallant wrote investors Tuesday. Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple are potential targets for past and future deals, the analyst said. The FTC decision isn't surprising, given “anti-monopoly” Democrats who view big tech firms as “suspect,” said Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Rob Atkinson: Hopefully, the agency won’t be “swayed by populist furor and instead confine itself to careful, objective analysis based on the reality that many technology markets tend toward concentration, and that this concentration is usually pro-consumer and pro-innovation.” The task force should find "the courage to re-consider some of the anti-competitive tech mergers of the last 10 years; tech is in need of a genuine shakeup,” Columbia University law professor Tim Wu tweeted.
Owners of musical.ly, a video social networking app now called TikTok, reached a record $5.7 million settlement with the FTC over claims the company illegally collected children’s personal data, the agency announced Wednesday. It’s the largest civil penalty the FTC, whose members unanimously approved, has collected under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Musical.ly failed to seek parental consent for collecting names, email addresses and other data from users younger than 13, the FTC alleged in a complaint filed by DOJ. “We take enforcement of COPPA very seriously, and we will not tolerate companies that flagrantly ignore the law,” Chairman Joe Simons said in a statement. “These practices reflected the company’s willingness to pursue growth even at the expense of endangering children,” said Commissioners Rohit Chopra and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. They said executives should face more accountability in future cases. The company has implemented changes that now direct TikTok users into “age-appropriate” app sections, it said: “The new environment for younger users does not permit the sharing of personal information, and it puts extensive limitations on content and user interaction.” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., urged future “higher monetary penalties that will actually [incentivize] COPPA compliance.” More than 200 million worldwide users, 65 million registered in the U.S., downloaded the app. Accounts were publicly available by default, the FTC said, and public reports show adults contacted children through the app. The app includes a feature that lets users discover other users within a 50-mile radius. App operators received thousands of complaints from parents that their underage children had accounts, the FTC said. “This case should put tech companies on notice that continued disregard for COPPA will result in penalties and consumer mistrust that can seriously impact their business,” said Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer.
The FCC chief information officer's role in decision-making for annual and multiyear planning, programming, budgeting and execution decisions related to IT and in hiring personnel with IT responsibilities is now federal law. The rule was in Tuesday's Federal Register, incorporating statutory update to CIO authorities into organizational rules. The agency said this amendment reflected a Ray Baum's Act mandate giving the CIO enhanced responsibilities.
Broadcom released what it says is a more affordable Wi-Fi chip for smartphones. The BCM43752 “extends the benefits of Wi-Fi 6 to the broader smartphone market where high performance and total solution cost are equally important design considerations,” Broadcom said Monday. The chip “brings together the latest innovations in Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 innovations.”
A tech culture that works to “defeat legitimate law enforcement activities” won't end well, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Thursday at the Wharton School in Philadelphia. “Innovators should place security on the same footing as novelty and convenience.” He cited cyberattacks, IP theft and fraud as related threats.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) and state Rep. Marc Levine (D) on Thursday unveiled legislation requiring businesses to notify consumers of compromised passport numbers and biometric information. The bill is a response to the Marriott data breach (see 1901140033). Marriott notified consumers, but current law “does not require companies to report breaches if only consumers’ passport numbers have been accessed,” the officials said.
The FTC should investigate whether Facebook improperly targeted children for in-game purchases, 17 consumer groups wrote the agency Thursday. Common Sense Media, Center for Digital Democracy, Center for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Electronic Privacy Information Center signed. The groups ask the agency to determine whether Facebook violated the FTC Act's Section 5 and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. They said internal documents show Facebook employees “called the practice ‘friendly fraud’ and referred to kids who spent large amounts of money as ‘whales,’ a casino-industry term for super high rollers.” The documents were unsealed from a 2012 class-action lawsuit settled in 2016. The company didn’t comment. The FTC confirmed receiving the letter.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said Thursday the Trump administration is focused on maintaining confidence in the Privacy Shield and preventing international barriers to cross-border data flows and digital trade. OSTP’s Science & Technology Highlights report cites privacy efforts from NTIA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (see 1811090050 and 1812170032). The proper balance is allowing users to “benefit from dynamic uses of their information, while still expecting organizations to appropriately minimize risks to users’ privacy,” the report said. It cites President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to “prioritize investments” in artificial intelligence R&D (see 1902110054). It referred to Trump's remarks about technologies that “could improve virtually every aspect of our lives, create vast new wealth for American workers and families, and open up bold, new frontiers in science, medicine, and communication.” The report cites Trump signing the first national cybersecurity strategy in 15 years (see 1809200055) and calling for cyber collaboration across all government agencies. It cites efforts to develop the “world’s most powerful and smartest supercomputers” partly through the Department of Energy, advanced computing systems and National Science Foundation cloud computing partnerships.
Microsoft will expand AccountGuard, a cybersecurity threat detection service, to 12 new European countries, Corporate Vice President-Customer Security and Trust Tom Burt blogged Wednesday. Part of Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program, AccountGuard is used by political candidates, parties, campaign offices, think tanks and nonprofits. The new countries are France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain.