The federal government is about to spend more than $120 million on subsidies that, rather than improving rural connectivity, will make tens of thousands of families worse off. These funds are part of a 2018 federal program intended to expand rural broadband access called the Connect America Fund phase II (CAF II) reverse auction. The program, in which Internet access providers competed for subsidies, will distribute nearly $1.5 billion over the next 10 years to connect unserved rural residents. But in some communities, the auction may do more to widen the digital divide than diminish it.

While some winning bidders committed to building out high-speed fiber optic networks, satellite company Viasat will rake in more than $120 million in subsidies to continue providing inadequate geostationary satellite connectivity to rural households that are clamoring for something better. Not only does satellite Internet access offer slower speeds, greater latency, and less reliability for a higher cost compared to other technologies, but Viasat’s subsidies are making those areas ineligible for future broadband funds, deterring other providers from building truly high-quality networks. Instead of bridging the digital divide, the process will relegate certain communities to satellite Internet access while others receive ultra-fast fiber and do nothing more than deepen the fissure.

In a letter, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition applauded Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai for promoting fiber broadband deployment to schools and libraries through the E-rate program. “Competitive bidding has been a fundamental principle of the E-rate program since its inception,” said John Windhausen, executive director of the SHLB Coalition. “Chairman Pai’s support of the competitive bidding process has saved schools, libraries and the American consumers millions of dollars over the past few years. The marketplace is seeing a wealth of competition, because the E-rate competitive bidding process is driving down prices and improving service quality. Thanks to Chairman Pai’s leadership in this area, thousands of schools and libraries nationwide are getting access to high-quality broadband that they can afford.” 

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai requesting that the chairman update him on any progress made on FCC auction plans and compensation proposals for satellite companies operating within the C-Band. At present, foreign satellite companies are operating within the C-Band, a part of the spectrum that the FCC is attempting to set aside for future 5G wireless use. Spectrum refers to electromagnetic waves that wireless devices use to deliver voice, text, video and other wireless communications. C-Band represents a portion of the spectrum that cable operators and broadcasters use for satellite reception of network programming. C-Band, however, is necessary for building a robust 5G network. The FCC recently considered allowing foreign satellite companies to sell the spectrum within the C-Band. Those private sales could have deprived the American taxpayers of information and revenue from such sales.

Google's Chrome team, advancing its web privacy effort, later in 2020 will begin testing the "privacy sandbox" proposals it unveiled in 2019. The Chrome tests are part of an effort to make it harder for publishers, advertisers and data brokers to harvest your personal data without your permission and to track you online. Other browsers, including Apple's Safari, Brave Software's Brave, Mozilla's Firefox and Microsoft's new Chromium-based Edge, have pushed steadily to cut tracking for the last few years. Google's privacy sandbox plan came later in the process, but carries enormous importance given that Chrome dominates browser usage, accounting for 64% of web activity.

Google's announcement effectively puts websites on notice: The most-used browser is going to start changing the way the web works, so you'd better prepare. If Google's changes materialize as planned, "the web becomes inherently privacy preserving," said Justin Schuh, a director of Chrome engineering. "The concrete difference is you don't have people collecting this information on you, building profiles without your consent." Although Chrome's browser rivals and other critics have taken issue with some of Chrome's privacy sandbox ideas, it's clear the overall attitude among browser makers has shifted toward protecting your personal information.

For browser makers, it's now a matter of figuring out the best way to protect your data. Chrome's privacy sandbox includes an upper limit on the data a website can harvest, called a "privacy budget;" a "trust token" that can help websites separate you from bots, spammers and untrustworthy actors without having to track you personally; tools to group people by their interests but without invading privacy; and a way for websites to communicate without knowing your internet address. In Chrome's case, Google also needs to figure out how to protect the data without damaging its online business, which relies on ads.