Online privacy

Privacy groups are pressing the Federal Trade Commission for the status of their complaint against Google.

A New Hampshire judge’s attempt to compel Amazon to share recordings from an Echo device at the scene of an alleged double murder is putting a fine point on law enforcement’s growing demand for data from Internet of Things devices. Prosecutors are seeking two days of recordings from the smart speaker in a Farmington (NH) home where two women were found dead in Jan 2017.

Staff of the Federal Trade Commission called for a balanced approach that protects both consumer privacy and innovation in a comment submitted to the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as part of that agency’s consumer privacy proceeding. FTC staff noted the FTC's extensive experience in protecting consumer privacy and fostering innovation. The FTC is uniquely situated to balance consumers’ interests in privacy, innovation, and competition, according to the comment.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson urged Congress to pass network neutrality and consumer data privacy laws that would prevent states from issuing their own stricter laws. "There are a number of states that are now passing their own legislation around privacy and, by the way, net neutrality," Stephenson said.

Facebook failed to closely monitor device makers after granting them access to the personal data of hundreds of millions of people, according to a previously unreported disclosure to Congress. Facebook’s loose oversight of the partnerships was detected by the company’s government-approved privacy monitor in 2013. But it was never revealed to Facebook users, most of whom had not explicitly given the company permission to share their information. Details of those oversight practices were revealed in a letter Facebook sent in Oct 2018 to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).

34 civil rights, consumer, and privacy organizations join in releasing public interest principles for privacy legislation, because the public needs and deserves strong and comprehensive federal legislation to protect their privacy and afford meaningful redress.

The Internet Association (IA) and Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) submitted filings with the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), which sought comment on a framework for protecting privacy. The organizations are in agreement that federal privacy legislation currently being contemplated by the White House and Congress should preempt state efforts to regulate privacy.

There is a new political reality in Washington. A Democratic Party takeover of the House of Representatives has created divided government again. We can only hope that the newly divided government can create the space for clear action to meet our challenges. Both parties are now truly responsible for governing, and although many of the moderates have retired or been defeated, the needs for protection-creating policymaking is felt equally in the most conservative and liberal districts. There’s also hope that the influx of new members brings a class of younger, tech-savvy legislators.

Many US voters in a recent Morning Consult/Politico poll, including pluralities of both Democrats and Republicans, said they’d like to see the next Congress make it a top priority to pass measures that better protect consumer data, outweighing other more partisan concerns such as efforts to codify network neutrality and addressing allegations of political bias and censorship on social media.