Forecasts for big sales gains on Cyber Monday and the week that followed were "more virtual than reality,” NPD reported. There was a “slight uptick” in overall U.S. holiday spending compared with the Thanksgiving week declines, the researcher said Thursday. Cumulative retail sales for the first five weeks of the holiday selling season were up 2 percent from a year earlier “across the key general merchandise categories” and consumer tech occupied three of the top five “performing categories” for Cyber Monday week, the firm said.

​Amazon and Google take privacy seriously, they responded to Consumer Watchdog's report Wednesday (see 1712130023) that patent applications show possibilities for "surveillance" by those companies' smart home devices. "All devices that come with the Google Assistant, including Google Home, are designed with user privacy in mind," said a spokeswoman for that company, calling CW's claims "unfounded." Google Home stores only "voice queries after a physical trigger or after recognizing a hotword trigger," she said Friday. Amazon takes "privacy seriously and [has] built multiple layers of privacy into Echo devices," said the company Wednesday. "We do not use customer’s voice recordings for targeted advertising. Like many companies, we file a number of forward-looking patent applications that explore the full possibilities of new technology. Patents take multiple years to receive and do not necessarily reflect current developments to products and services."

Artificial intelligence by 2020 will create more net jobs, Gartner reported Wednesday, reaching 2 million five years later. “Many significant innovations in the past have been associated with a transition period of temporary job loss, followed by recovery, then business transformation,” and AI likely will be no different, said Gartner. It dismissed “calamitous warnings of job losses” as those that confuse AI with automation. By 2022, one in five workers “engaged in mostly non-routine tasks will rely on AI to do a job,” it said.

Consumers enjoy using IoT devices but few understand or trust how their data is being managed, said a Cisco survey of 3,000 consumers released Tuesday. Despite suspicions about data security, most consumers said they aren't willing to disconnect from IoT devices, the survey said.

Fifty-four percent of surveyed U.S. broadband households see little value in sharing data, and 42 percent don’t trust companies can keep their data safe, Parks Associates blogged Monday. "Consumers are caught between their security concerns of sharing personal data" and wanting to "unlock the value in the complete IoT ecosystem,” said Autumn Braswell, iQor chief operating officer-global solutions marketing. Consumers can’t receive IoT benefits and not share data, noted Leon Kuperman, Cujo chief technology officer. Alton Martin, chief evangelist of Trusource Labs, said device makers must “convey and instill confidence that not only do their products work well, but they are secure and will not allow a consumer's home and family privacy to be violated.” Martin warned of “negative blowback if IoT devices in the home suddenly became untrustworthy. They'd be disconnected in droves." Sami Nassar, NXP vice president-cybersecurity, said brands should work with partners to set security and quality benchmarks, with data privacy protection legislation to enforce certifications.

Cable companies and others spent more than $900,000 to oppose municipal broadband in last month's election in Fort Collins, Colorado, election documents show. Citizens voted to authorize up to $150 million in debt for a network, 57 percent in favor (see 1711080024). Campaign finance data including a report released last week showed the Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association contributing $816,000 and Citizens for a Sustainable Economy giving $85,000 to “Priorities First Fort Collins,” which opposed the muni network. The group supporting the network spent about $15,000. Comcast and CenturyLink said they opposed the initiative because they didn’t believe taxpayer dollars should subsidize competitors and because muni broadband risks are high. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a muni broadband backer, blogged Saturday on the documents.

ICANN 61 still will take place in San Juan March 10-15 after officials visited Puerto Rico and received assurances from Gov. Ricardo Antonio Rosselló that hotels and the convention center are up and running and eager to host, the group announced Thursday.

Google will provide new data on government requests to remove content from services like YouTube and Blogger, the company announced Thursday, updating its transparency report. Other changes include expanding the national security letters section and making it easier for people to share select data and charts.

Worldwide IoT spending will reach $772.5 billion in 2018, up 14.6 percent from this year, and reaching $1.1 trillion in 2021, IDC reported Thursday. Hardware will account for most spending next year, largely for modules and sensors, with some spending on infrastructure and security, IDC said. Services will be the second largest technology category, followed by software and connectivity, led by application and analytics software, it said. Industries spending the most on IoT solutions next year will be manufacturing ($189 billion), transportation ($85 billion) and utilities ($73 billion), it said.

Facebook is being asked for assurances its new Messenger Kids app protects children’s privacy and security (see 1712040064), in a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg by Senate Democrats Ed Markey, Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, Conn. They ask by Jan. 4 whether Facebook will continue its promise of an advertising-free service; identify information shared with vendors and service providers; describe the app's security protections; and summarize the extent of consultation with child development experts in designing the app. Facebook said it received the letter and pointed to its blog describing consultations with parents in developing the app and an ongoing $1 million research project examining tech’s long-term impact on children.