Online privacy

[Commentary] The path to victory for network neutrality supporters requires strong leadership from Capitol Hill — but it shouldn’t include a legislative “fix.” First of all, we have a good law already. It’s called Title II of the Communications Act.  What’s more, the Title II Net Neutrality rules have been upheld in court. And the existing law is immensely popular among Republican and Democratic voters, public advocates and businesses.

International flows of personal information are more significant than ever, but differences in transatlantic data privacy law imperil this data trade. The resulting policy debate has led the EU to set strict limits on transfers of personal data to any non-EU country—including the United States—that lacks sufficient privacy protections. Bridging the transatlantic data divide is therefore a matter of the greatest significance. 

Sens Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are questioning the privacy and security of Facebook’s new messaging app, which is designed for kids under 13, expressing their concerns in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.  “We remain concerned about where sensitive information collected through this app could end up and for what purpose it could be used,” they wrote.

Beyond a photo, the iPhone X’s front sensors scan 30,000 points to make a 3D model of your face. That’s how the iPhone X unlocks and makes animations that might have once required a Hollywood studio. Now that a phone can scan your mug, what else might apps want to do with it? They could track your expressions to judge if you’re depressed. They could guess your gender, race and even sexuality. They might combine your face with other data to observe you in stores—or walking down the street. Apps aren’t doing most of these things, yet. But is Apple doing enough to stop it?

More than 5 million people in the United Kingdom could be entitled to compensation from Google if a class action against the internet giant for allegedly harvesting personal data is successful. A group led by the former executive director of consumer body Which?, Richard Lloyd, and advised by City law firm Mischon de Reya claims Google unlawfully collected personal information by bypassing the default privacy settings on the iPhone between June 2011 and February 2012. They have launched a legal action with the aim of securing compensation for those affected.

[Commentary] December’s Federal Communications Commission vote will simply return the Internet to the same regulatory framework that governed in 2015 and for the 20 years that preceded it. The Internet flourished under this approach, while consumers and innovators alike benefited from a free and open Internet. The FCC’s plan ensures that robust open Internet protections are in place. Here are just four of them:

The head of the Federal Trade Commission hailed her agency’s ability to protect online competition ahead of a likely regulatory rollback that would make the agency responsible for maintaining a free and open internet.  The FTC was responsible for policing the internet before the 2015 expansion of net neutrality regulations, and if Pai’s order passes, the agency will re-inherit that authority. “The FTC’s ability to protect consumers and promote competition in the broadband industry isn’t something new and far-fetched,” Acting FTC Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen said.

Facebook may soon ask you to "upload a photo of yourself that clearly shows your face," to prove you're not a bot. The company is using a new kind of captcha to verify whether a user is a real person. According to a screenshot of the identity test shared on Twitter and verified by Facebook, the prompt says: “Please upload a photo of yourself that clearly shows your face.

A new “fact sheet” sent out by the Federal Communications Commission asks: what if facts are flexible things that we can bend to our preferred reality? It lists a series of “myths” about the commission’s proposal, followed by “facts” that supposedly debunk them — except the facts are often wrong, or directly confirm the myth that they’re trying to debunk. Here are some of the most flagrant examples.