Online privacy

Solid is an open-source project to restore the power and agency of individuals on the web. Solid changes the current model where users have to hand over personal data to digital giants in exchange for perceived value. As we’ve all discovered, this hasn’t been in our best interests. Solid is how we evolve the web in order to restore balance — by giving every one of us complete control over data, personal or not, in a revolutionary way. Solid is a platform, built using the existing web.

On September 26, 2018, executives from six major U.S. tech and communications companies testified before the Senate Commerce Committee at a hearing titled Examining Safeguards for Consumer Data Privacy. Representatives from Amazon, AT&T, Google, Twitter, Apple, and Charter were there to help lawmakers as they all discussed “possible approaches to safeguarding privacy more effectively.” Tech companies, on the whole, followed the trend that has emerged out of Silicon Valley when they testify before Congress: Apologize, explain, and offer to work with lawmakers on a regulatory solution.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai paid a rare visit to Washington (DC) on Sept 28 to defend the company against allegations that it silences conservatives online, part of an effort to defuse political tensions between the company and Congress ahead of a hearing later in 2018. At a gathering with a dozen Republicans, House Majority Leader Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) stressed to Pichai that party lawmakers are concerned about “what’s going on with transparency and the power of social media today,” particularly given the fact that Google processes 90 percent of the world’s searches.

Facebook said that an attack on its computer network had exposed the personal information of nearly 50 million users. The company said it discovered the breach this week, finding that attackers had exploited a feature in Facebook’s code that allowed them to take over user accounts. The company said it fixed the vulnerability and notified law enforcement officials. “We’re taking it really seriously,” said Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive. “We have a major security effort at the company that hardens all of our surfaces.” He added: “I’m glad we found this.

Executives from major technology companies including Apple and Google expressed broad support for a national consumer privacy law in a hearing Sept 26, but offered few concrete specifics for how such a law might be best crafted. Lawmakers are no longer questioning whether technology companies should be regulated -- the conversation on Capitol Hill has shifted to how they can design a consumer privacy law that would span a broad swath of US tech and telecommunications companies with divergent data-collection practices.

Uber has agreed to pay $148 million to settle allegations from 50 states and the District of Columbia that the ride-hailing company violated data breach laws when it waited a year to disclose a hack affecting tens of millions of its riders and drivers. The settlement is among the biggest in Uber’s history and comes as policymakers on Sept 26 were debating whether to write a national consumer privacy law in front of witnesses including Google and Twitter. It marks the first time Uber has settled a matter with the top law enforcement officials from all 50 states and the District.

Officials from 14 states' top legal offices and the Justice Department have begun a coordinated conversation about ways to keep tabs — and potentially rein in — the fast-growing tech giants. The gathering had been designed to focus on social media platforms and the ways in which they moderate content online, following complaints from President Donald Trump and other top Republican lawmakers that Silicon Valley companies deliberately seek to silence conservative users and views online.

The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Request for Comments on a proposed approach to consumer data privacy designed to provide high levels of protection for individuals, while giving organizations legal clarity and the flexibility to innovate. The Request for Comments is part of a transparent process to modernize US data privacy policy for the 21st century.

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai plans to appear at a private meeting of top GOP lawmakers on Sept 28 and again at a public hearing later in 2018, responding to new scrutiny of the company’s work with China, its market power and alleged bias against conservatives in its search results.  “Google has a lot of questions to answer about reports of bias in its search results, violations of user privacy, anticompetitive behavior and business dealings with repressive regimes like China,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who is organizing Sept 28’s meeting.

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on Sept 26 on “Examining Safeguards for Consumer Data Privacy,” intended as an opportunity for lawmakers to learn about “possible approaches to safeguarding privacy more effectively.” That’s great except for two small things. No consumers were invited to speak on safeguarding consumer data privacy. No consumer advocates were invited to speak on safeguarding consumer data privacy. Who was invited?