AT&T exclusively will offer the Harman Spark connected car device starting this week at $79.99 under a variety of rate plans. Under a limited-time offer, those who buy a Samsung Galaxy S9, S9+ or Note9 smartphone can get a Spark for $29.99, the carrier said. The Spark works on cars 1996 and newer to deliver connectivity features including emergency crash assistance, roadside assistance manager, geofencing and a Wi-Fi hot spot.

The White House is exploring antitrust action to prevent political bias on online platforms, said a draft executive order reportedly circulated over the weekend. By using search and social media, consumers count on platforms to provide “reliable information to shape a host of decisions ranging from consumer purchases to votes in elections,” the order said. Antitrust enforcers should use their authority to “promote competition and ensure that no online platform exercises market power in a way that harms consumers, including through the exercise of bias,” it said. President Donald Trump recently attacked Google, Facebook and other online platforms for alleged conservative bias. DOJ officials are expected to meet with state attorneys general Tuesday to discuss big tech competition concerns (see 1809210047). The White House didn’t comment.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) is planning on DOJ holding its Tuesday meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss tech industry issues (see 1809140033 and 1809110041), an official said Friday, despite a report Justice was considering delaying the event. DOJ didn’t comment. A spokesperson for Iowa AG Tom Miller (D), who declined to attend, said her understanding was that the National Association of Attorneys General proposed Justice reschedule the meeting to coincide with an NAAG event Nov. 27-29 in Charleston, South Carolina, but DOJ rejected the idea. An NAAG spokesperson directed questions to individual AG offices. Iowa cited a scheduling conflict and “the lack of an agenda” in declining DOJ’s invite. “We’d be interested in a substantive, bipartisan discussion in which all states were invited,” the spokesperson said. Seven offices for various states AGs told us they are either interested in or will attend Tuesday's meeting. Seven other offices told us they aren’t attending. Justice sent invites to at least 24 AGs. We’ve contacted all 50 state law enforcements chiefs multiple times. Law enforcement chiefs in Texas (R), Louisiana (R) and California (D) said they plan to attend, though they didn't confirm if they are sending the AG or representatives. A spokesperson for Arizona' Mark Brnovich (R) said he's unable to attend, but the office will send staff. Offices in Nebraska (R), Washington (D) and Wisconsin (R) said they were invited. Law enforcement chiefs in Ohio (R), North Dakota (R), Arkansas (R) and North Carolina (D) said they won’t attend due to scheduling conflicts. Democrats in New York and Massachusetts said they aren’t interested. Ten offices told us there weren't invited: Colorado (R), Connecticut (D), Delaware (D), Hawaii (D), Iowa (D), New Hampshire (R), Ohio (R), Oklahoma (R), Oregon (D) and Rhode Island (D). The office for Tennessee's Herbert Slatery (R) directed questions to DOJ. Justice’s inquiry into tech company bias is “misguided,” several groups wrote the department Friday. TechFreedom, Engine Advocacy and Information Technology and Innovation Foundation were among those expressing skepticism the DOJ inquiry will produce any legal action, since the First Amendment bars government from attempting to correct political bias, including through antitrust.

App developers may share Gmail user data with third parties as long as they are transparent and adhere to Google privacy policies. Vice President-Public Policy and Government Affairs Susan Molinari disclosed those details in response to questions from GOP Sens. John Thune, S.D.; Roger Wicker, Miss.; and Jerry Moran, Kan. (see 1807100060). If Google allows third-party sharing, the lawmakers asked what action Google has taken to recover the data. Preventing abuse before it happens is the goal, Molinari said: “When we detect anomalous behavior, we investigate. And when we suspend apps, we warn users to remove the apps’ access to their data.” Developers must obtain consent from the user and offer a privacy policy explaining how the data will be used, Molinari said. Those developers are subject to Google’s user data policy and application programming interface terms of service. “Our verification process … reviews the privacy policy and works to ensure that developers’ requests for access to user data make sense in light of those disclosures,” Molinari wrote. “We make the privacy policy easily accessible to users to review before deciding whether to grant access.”

Facebook must be absolutely straight with consumers about how it operates and makes money, said EU Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Commissioner Vera Jourova at a livestreamed Thursday news briefing. The European Commission said in February that social media companies must do better aligning terms of service with EU consumer protection rules. Facebook and others have made some changes, but Jourova said many people are still unclear about how it makes their data available to third parties or holds full copyright in content posted on the site. The EC gave the company until October to correct all remaining misleading terms and conditions, with all changes to be in place by year's end. "I am becoming impatient" with Facebook, the commissioner said: Talks have been ongoing for about two years but "we cannot negotiate forever." Asked what she'll do if the platform hasn't shown progress around October, Jourova said it will face penalties set by national authorities in 2019. The EC also went after Airbnb, which Thursday committed to making all requested modifications, Jourova said. These included making its prices more transparent and clarifying that consumers can use all available remedies, including suing hosts, in case of damages or personal harm. Facebook wants its terms to be clear and accessible to everyone, a spokeswoman said. It updated its terms of service in May and included the vast majority of changes proposed by the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network and the EC, she said: Facebook "will continue our close cooperation to understand any further concerns and make appropriate updates."

EU antitrust enforcers opened a preliminary investigation into Amazon’s third-party data collection practices, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Wednesday, citing increasing questions about platforms with dual purposes, which host merchants but also compete as merchants. “If you as Amazon get the data from the smaller merchants that you host, which can be of course completely legitimate because you can improve your service to these smaller merchants,” she said, “do you then also use these data to do your own calculations about what is the new, big thing?”

The FTC released a settlement with website operators Tuesday who allegedly sold fake pay stubs and other documents. The deal shuttered their businesses and resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties. The commission alleged Katrina Moore, Steven Simmons and George Jiri Strnad II operated websites that sold “a variety of fake financial and other documents -- such as pay stubs, income tax forms, and medical statements -- which can be used to facilitate identity theft, tax fraud, and other crimes.” Businesses included FakePayStubOnline.com and NoveltyExcuses.com. The three are prohibited from engaging in similar work in the future. Moore agreed to pay $169,000, Strnad $133,777 and Simmons $15,000.

Since the EU’s general data protection regulation took effect, more than 5 million people from 200 countries have used new Microsoft privacy tools to manage personal data, Corporate Vice President Julie Brill blogged Monday. American consumers were the largest group on an absolute and per capita basis, she said, which shows there’s a high level of interest from the U.S. in GDPR-like control of personal data.

New Pulte homes can connect with Wi-Fi, with increased bandwidth through built-in access points plus wiring, PulteGroup announced Thursday as it began a smart home partnership with Builder Boost. “The home of the future is here,” said Greg Salinas, division president-Pulte Homes in Central Texas. Smart home technology “may increase the resale value of your home,” the company said. Pulte says it partnered with Alexa since Amazon was one of the first companies to combine smart home control with voice commands. The Pulte smart home system “can work with others if that is your preference,” including Google Home or Samsung SmartThings hub, it said.

Consumers should be able to see how and why personal data is used and shared and who it’s being shared with, the Internet Association said Wednesday in releasing six online privacy principles meant to drive the legislative conversation. The tech trade group voiced support for consumers having “meaningful control” of how data is used and shared and better access. Users should be able to correct, request deletion of and transport personal data they share with companies, IA said. It joins a growing list of lawmakers and groups offering privacy proposals (see 1809070049). BSA|The Software Alliance also released a set of privacy principles Wednesday, urging transparency for how platforms handle and share purpose-driven data. Platforms “should provide consumers with sufficient information to make informed choices” and allow them to opt out of data processing “where practical and appropriate,” BSA said.