Eighty-three percent of U.S. households get internet service at home, same as in 2013, with 81 percent getting broadband service, Leichtman Research Group reported. Broadband reaches 98 percent of households with internet service at home, it said. Among households without internet service, 49 percent don't use a computer at home. The most common reason for not getting web service at home is lack of perceived need (cited by 46 percent of survey respondents), followed by cost (17 percent), internet access via smartphone instead (11 percent), and availability issues (9 percent). Just over three-fourths of adults access the internet via smartphone vs. just over half five years ago, and 9 percent of households get internet service only on a smartphone, up from 3 percent in 2013. Some 92 percent of households access the internet either at home or by smartphone. A November-December phone survey included 1,153 U.S. households.

President Donald Trump signed legislation Thursday establishing minimum standards for federal websites, such as mobile-friendly interfaces (see 1811300039). The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act “will modernize the way the federal government delivers services online, increase efficiency, and reduce costs for taxpayers,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, bill co-author, said.

California plans six forums in early 2019 on its privacy law enacted last summer (see 1806280054), Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) announced Wednesday: Jan. 8 in San Francisco, Jan. 14 in San Diego, Jan. 24 in Riverside, Jan. 25 in Los Angeles, Feb. 5 in Sacramento and Feb. 13 in Fresno. The 2018 law requires the AG adopt privacy rules by July 1, 2020. By that Jan. 1, businesses must disclose data collection and sharing practices to consumers and give consumers the right to request their data be deleted and opt out of sale or sharing of personal information. Businesses will be prohibited from selling personal information of consumers under 16 without their explicit consent.

A glitch with an Amazon Echo speaker giving a user access to another user's recordings was an "isolated incident," an Amazon spokesman emailed us about a media report a customer in Germany who asked to listen to Alexa recordings of his activities could access others' 1,700 audio files. “This was an unfortunate case of human error and an isolated incident," Amazon said. "We have resolved the issue with the two customers involved and have taken steps to further improve our processes. We were also in touch on a precautionary basis with the relevant regulatory authorities.”

President Donald Trump is poised to sign three cyber- and computer-related bills into law, and the Senate on Thursday passed a bill meant to improve federal IT acquisition. The House 348-11 passed the National Quantum Initiative Act Thursday (see 1812140037), sending it to Trump’s desk. The Senate passed two bills intended to strengthen Department of Homeland Security cyber defenses (see 1812200051). The Senate Thursday passed legislation creating a council to consult the government on information sharing and supply chain risks early in the IT purchasing cycle. The Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act, from Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and James Lankford, R-Okla., responded to national security threats posed by foreign tech companies in government and national security systems like Kaspersky and ZTE. The bill awaits consideration in the House.

Increased cybersecurity threats and rampant hacking attempts “that leverage the power of the IoT against itself” are forcing vendors to bolster cybersecurity efforts with more sophisticated tools based on artificial intelligence, driving a security analytics market estimated to reach $12 billion by 2024, ABI Research reported Wednesday. “Increased frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks are causing the security ecosystem to flourish and push the industry into the hunt for more reliable, in-depth, and high-quality security analytics intelligence,” said analyst Dimitrios Pavlakis. Challenges include understanding the scope of security analytics and how technology should evolve, Pavlakis said, and many organizations are unclear on prerequisites for reliable sources of security intelligence.

Data security is a shared responsibility among tech-communications industry and government stakeholders, the Council to Secure the Digital Economy told the FTC in recent comments. Including the Information Technology Industry Council, USTelecom and CTA, the council suggested the FTC looks to its recent international botnet guide (see 1811290054) when addressing cybersecurity and data security issues. Earlier this month, CTA announced an effort to craft a technical standard based on the guide’s content, the council said. Antitrust enforcers should increase attention on “employer mergers and conduct that have anticompetitive labor-market effects,” American Antitrust Institute said in comments AAI sent in an email blast Tuesday.

Facebook partnerships with other companies didn’t allow access to personal data without consent, nor did they violate a 2012 consent decree with the FTC, Director-Developer Platforms and Programs Konstantinos Papamiltiadis responded Tuesday. The New York Times reported, based on 2017 documents, Facebook gave access to personal data, sometimes allegedly without consent, to Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Yahoo and Russia Kremlin-linked search company Yandex. The agreements let users integrate Facebook features on other apps, Papamiltiadis said, and it has since ceased many such partnerships. Agreements remain active with Amazon, Apple, Alibaba, Mozilla and Opera, he said. Authorization to the data is granted when a user logs into apps through Facebook, he said. The FTC should consider these new allegations in its current Facebook investigation, and Congress needs to move forward with legislation in 2019, Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Charlotte Slaiman said. Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine (D) Wednesday sued Facebook for mishandling user data in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and failing to report the breach. Racine seeks “monetary and injunctive relief, including relief for harmed consumers, damages, and penalties to the District” for violating D.C.'s Consumer Protection Procedures Act. “We’re reviewing the complaint and look forward to continuing our discussions with attorneys general,” a Facebook spokesperson emailed. "If there's one complaint filed in court in the District of Columbia you consider reading today, make it this one: http://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/," tweeted FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.

Baidu is collaborating with 3D developer Unity Technologies for a real-time simulation product with virtual environments for testing autonomous vehicles, said the companies Tuesday. The ability to conduct autonomous testing in a simulated environment allows “millions of simulations to simultaneously occur,” reducing testing costs, said Tim McDonough, Unity general manager-industrial.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg should step down from the board, civil rights groups wrote the company Tuesday. Groups including Freedom From Facebook and Southern Poverty Law Center claimed Facebook leadership ignored racial propaganda and bigoted campaigns on the platform, and criticized the company allegedly hiring an outside firm to target platform critics via anti-Semitic attacks (see 1811150039). The groups demanded Facebook publish its long-awaited civil rights audit by Jan. 31 and remove Vice President-Global Public Policy Joel Kaplan. Citing propaganda and data breaches, the NAACP launched a campaign urging users to log out of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp on Tuesday. The parent company Tuesday updated the civil rights audit headed by American Civil Liberties Union Director-Washington Office Laura Murphy, who committed to issuing a second update in 2019. Murphy recommended Facebook increase resources for voter suppression- and election integrity-related efforts, crack down on fake accounts and create a civil rights accountability structure. Sandberg said the civil rights audit is one of her top priorities in 2019.