Ben Johnson

In the tech industry, one of the central debates has been over whether continued technological innovation can do much good for a wider group of people than just a narrow slice of the urban upper middle class.

The “digital divide” -- the gaps between technology haves and have-nots -- is a real and pressing issue. The skewed demographics of the tech industry can also make using technology to improve social outcomes a challenge.

“It creates a lot of anxiety and fear,” says Tessie Guillermo, CEO of the tech consulting company ZeroDivide. The ability to give digital literacy to these groups -- community organizations and underserved communities -- is difficult, and the demographics compound the challenge.

Furthermore, the way the tech industry impatiently deals with these problems with quick fix improvements could be counterproductive, she said.

The House of Representatives is back from summer recess, and among the items on the agenda is the Social Media Working Group Act of 2014. While the government is already working with social media to inform and interact with citizens, one of the proposals under consideration is establishing a standard operating procedure for the Department of Homeland Security's Twitter account during a crisis.

According to Nate Elliott, social media analyst at Forrester Research, typically “The hope is when government or another authority tweets something, people will share it for them.” However, because of the noisy environment of social media platforms, that generally doesn’t happen. “Messages wash away very quickly,” according to Elliott. It's why the government is looking for a more cohesive social media strategy.

There has been growing evidence that online surveillance conducted by the US government is impacting the tech industry. One area in particular? Cloud Storage.

Tech companies have started to move some of their facilities overseas under pressure from foreign governments. Some of those governments have even considered building their own infrastructure, so that their citizens information won't be stored in the US. Germany, in particular, is talking about a so-called "Bundescloud."

Massive security breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus in 2013 put millions of customers at risk of identity theft and credit card fraud.

In light of these major rifts in consumer security, Federal Trade Commission chair Edith Ramirez is urging Congress to adopt several new rules to better protect consumer data such as credit card information, usernames and passwords.

"What we are seeking is that there are robust security requirements as well as a national breach notice requirement," said Chairwoman Ramirez. "We'd also like any national legislation to include FTC enforcement with a civil penalty." According to Chairwoman Ramirez, a federal requirement would benefit shoppers across state lines as well as aid law enforcement in prosecuting cybercrime.