An advisory committee would create new data security standards for certifying IoT devices, under legislation proposed Friday by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. The voluntary program would identify and promote IoT products that meet the committee's standards and best practices. The Cyber Shield Act "will help ensure consumers can reliably identify more secure products and rewards manufacturers that adopt the best cybersecurity practices," Markey said in a statement. Government and tech companies need to "build more transparency around the security of our favorite devices," Lieu's statement said. The Massachusetts Tech Leadership Council endorsed the legislation for giving tech companies room to innovate while giving policymakers tools to protect consumers, said CEO Tom Hopcroft. “Our goal should be establishing IoT device best practices that are understood by both consumers and manufacturers,” said a statement from Shane Tews, visiting fellow, American Enterprise Institute. The goal of the voluntary program is developing a type of recognizable seal of approval, similar to the Energy Star designation for appliances, to help consumers identify manufacturers that comply with the voluntary cyber and data practices, Tews said. The Center for Democracy & Technology supported the bill in a statement urging Congress to take up the measure.

Tech support scammers settled complaints with the FTC they tricked consumers into believing their computers were infected with viruses and malware, charging hundreds of dollars for unnecessary repairs, the commission announced Thursday. Defendants, which the FTC said used only online advertising to target victims, will be permanently banned from the tech support business.

President Donald Trump called for a new drone safety program Wednesday, directing the Transportation Department to work with state and local governments in select jurisdictions to safely integrate unmanned air technologies into national airspace. CTA praised the move as a "smart way to engage local governments and community stakeholders," said Vice President-Technology Policy Doug Johnson. Drone sales in the U.S. will reach 3.4 million units this year, up 40 percent from 2016, and $1.1 billion in revenue, CTA reports. The Small UAV Coalition, which joined 30 organizations in a recent letter to Trump asking for such a program, supported the move. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., praised the drone program directive, saying it would provide "sensible direction" for increasing safety. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International said the program will be helpful as more businesses deploy drones.

Microsoft will drop a lawsuit against DOJ dealing with access to personal data, after the department said it would limit the practice of requiring providers to "stay silent" when the government accesses customers' data stored in the cloud, Microsoft Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith blogged. Justice took an "important step in ensuring that people’s privacy rights are protected," Smith said Monday. The new policy "helps ensure that secrecy orders are used only when necessary and for defined periods of time," Smith said, urging Congress to update "outdated laws to better protect our digital rights while still enabling law enforcement to do its job."

Sony will begin sampling next month the IMX324, a 1/1.7-inch-type stacked CMOS image sensor equipped with a 7.42 effective megapixel RCCC filter for forward-sensing cameras in advanced driver-assistance systems. The image sensor can produce roughly three times the horizontal resolution of conventional products, enabling HD image capture of distant objects such as road signs of up to roughly 525 feet away, said Sony. The IMX324 is expected to be compatible with image processors being developed by Intel’s Mobileye unit. A security feature protects the output image from being altered, Sony said. The sensor is on track to meet the AEC-Q100 Grade 2 reliability testing standards for automotive electronic components by June, it said.

The FTC won't punish websites and online services for not obtaining parental consent before collecting the audio file of a child's voice when used solely to replace written words, as long as the information is held for a short time and only for that purpose, said a policy enforcement statement released Monday. The updated policy approved 2-0 applies to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule that requires certain operators of commercial websites or online services to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. The new policy doesn't apply when an operator requests information via voice that would otherwise be considered personal information, such as a name. An operator still must provide clear notice of its collection and use of audio files and its deletion policy in its privacy policy. The company may not make any other use of the audio file before it's destroyed and the policy doesn't affect other COPPA compliance requirements.

Harman confirmed Friday it has an update patch in code to address the key reinstallation attacks Wi-Fi security flaw. The patch will be pushed to connected speaker owners in the next over-the-air update, a spokeswoman said.

Intel announced Thursday it’s working with Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) on the Intel Speech Enabling Developer Kit, an audio front-end solution for far-field voice control. As artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing improve, “many of the tasks of running the home will eventually be automated," blogged Miles Kingston, Intel general manager-smart home group, Thursday. Natural language machines must be able to clearly recognize commands from a reasonable conversational distance, Kingston said. He sees a “wave of innovation"​ from developers as industry transitions from being "simply connected to being truly smart.”

Samsung announced Wednesday systems-on-modules and services for its Artik IoT platform to strengthen edge security with device-to-cloud security for companies to build, develop and manage secure, interoperable, IoT products and services in smart homes and other IoT applications, it said.

Intel policy principles for artificial intelligence include privacy and other considerations. It seeks to "Liberate Data Responsibly" while maintaining security and data privacy, using machine learning algorithms. The chipmaker seeks to "Rethink Privacy," saying frameworks like fair information practice principles and privacy by design "withstood the test of time" but may need a “rethink.” It would "Require Accountability for Ethical Design and Implementation" and governments "must play a significant role in promoting those advances," it said. Despite major advances in computing power and algorithms "there is still a long way to go before what is called General AI becomes a reality," Intel blogged Wednesday.