Online privacy

From its inception, LinkNYC – the public WiFi kiosks that are run by a consortium of companies including Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs – has always posed a threat to privacy. But after nine years of operation and a recent audit, it’s fair to say LinkNYC represents a barely mitigated privacy disaster.

Big Tech could be fighting a losing battle with a bipartisan movement in Congress for new regulations on social media use by children, including getting kids off such platforms entirely. The Senate Commerce Committee approved two bills, the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (CTOPPA), sending them along to the full

As part of the National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate passed bipartisan consumer protection legislation co-sponsored by Commerce Committee Chair Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX) to require pre-purchase disclosures for smart devices and appliances that have built-in microphones or cameras capable of recording or transmitting data.

During an Executive Session, the Senate Committee on Commerce approved 11 bipartisan bills, including legislation aimed at protecting children’s online privacy: the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Other important bills approved included the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, the ORBITS Act, the TICKET Act, the COOL Online Act and several manufacturing bills. These bills now head to the Senate floor.

Approved:

2023’s upsurge in forced migration represents the intensification of an ongoing trend. As policymakers struggle to respond to the unfolding human catastrophe, they have increasingly turned to the possibilities offered by technology, and data in particular. Civil society and humanitarian organizations are attuned to the reality that these streams of people generate massive amounts of data that can, for instance, help channel aid to the neediest, predict disease outbreaks, and much more. Yet as is so often the case with technology, the potential for good is accompanied by certain risks.

Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-MI) introduced the Anti-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Espionage via Social Media (ACES) to counter the national security threat posed by the Chinese platform TikTok. This bill forces TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest all its assets in America. This bill:

US Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) led a bipartisan group of colleagues in reintroducing the Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching (ACCESS) Act, legislation that would encourage market-based competition with major social media platforms by requiring the largest companies make user data portable – and their services interoperable – with other platforms, and to allow users to designate a trusted third-party service to manage their privacy and account settings. The Act would increase market competition, encourage innovation, and increase consumer choice by requiring

The Federal Communications Commission Privacy and Data Protection Task Force announced new rules to protect consumers against scams that aim to commandeer their cell phone accounts. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared the new rules with her colleagues for their consideration.

The European Commission adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The decision concludes that the US ensures an adequate level of protection – comparable to that of the EU– for personal data transferred from the EU to US companies under the new framework.

On June 14, 2023, Federal Communications Commission Jessica Rosenworcel delivered remarks to the Center for Democracy and Technology Forum on data privacy, announcing a Privacy and Data Protection Task Force at the FCC. "First, we live in an era of always-on connectivity," said Rosenworcel. "Connection is no longer just convenient. It fuels every aspect of modern civic and commercial life. But too often this always-on connectivity—which has brought so many benefits—can mean a sacrifice of our privacy. Second, the monetization of data is big business.