Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) wrote to Google and Facebook Friday demanding answers on recent privacy violations by the two companies.
The House Judiciary Chairman is considering holding hearings and
introducing legislation related to online privacy and other security concerns, according to a statement Friday. Conyers wrote to Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg asking them to explain recent reports of privacy violations by the two firms.
"I want to ensure that privacy concerns are as paramount as creativity to these and all Internet companies, and I look forward to hearing about ways they can ensure this is the case," Conyers said.
Conyers joins the growing chorus of lawmakers wanting more information on Google's illegal collection of private information transmitted over wireless networks. The company recently admitted to inadvertantly downloading emails and documents from user networks while mapping images for its "Street View" product.
Google has since apologized, though Schmidt tried to downplay the damage at UK conference claiming "no harm, no foul."
A website launched by the House Republican leadership meant to crowdsource the nation’s best ideas is registering support for an idea the site’s founders direly oppose: net neutrality rules.
Technology policy has become a popular topic on America Speaking Out, a site unveiled this week to allow users to suggest discuss, and vote on policy proposals. “The purpose of this project is to give the American people a megaphone to speak out using the best technology available,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said at a press conference on Tuesday.
But on Internet policy, Boehner might not like what he hears from this social media megaphone. Support for net neutrality rules is far outpacing opposition among those using the Republican site.
Cell phone companies are looking hard at how they can monetize data on where users make their calls from, according to a Sprint official.
Researchers for mobile carriers and within academia are increasingly finding uses for the location-based data collected with every cell phone call, according to MIT's Technology Review. For every call or text message the company generates a call detail record that includes the duration of the call, the time it was placed and the location within a one-mile radius.
When compiled and analyzed that data can help reveal traffic patterns, track social connections and gauge public interest in a particular event. That's why cell phone companies are examining how they can increase revenue by selling the data to interested businesses.
"This is new in the telco space, but not in other areas -- look at Google, for example," said Jean Bolot, a researcher at Sprint. "Just about every operator on the planet is probably thinking about this right now."
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The White House is planning to name Senate staffer Sameer Bhalotra as deputy cybersecurity czar, according to several reports.
Bhalotra, who is currently a professional staffer for the Senate Select Intelligence Commitee, notified acquiantances on Wednesday that he would be moving to the White House to serve as cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt's deputy. Bhalotra has worked for the committee since 2007, where he had access to classified materials as well as the cybersecurity budget.
Experts told Nextgov the appointment is a huge get for the White House, which took heat over the extended search for a cyber czar last year. Early frontrunner Melissa Hathaway pulled herself out of the running last year and other candidates declined to be considered over concerns about the job's large responsibility and limited authority.
"He is probably the most technically tuned-in staff member on the Hill,"
said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute. "He's an
innovator and a team builder and a mentor to many
others on the Hill, where he headed the Senate's cyber staff caucus."
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is treating the wireless industry unfairly in pushing phone companies to provide simpler and more transparent bills, a lobbyist from CTIA, the wireless association, said Friday.
Chris Guttman-McCabe, the group’s regulatory affairs vice president, criticized the FCC's use of the term "bill shock" to characterize the consumer experience and questioned the agency's survey, released this week, on confusion over cell phone bills. (After the jump is a Q&A with Guttman-McCabe on FCC fairness — or lack
thereof — and what will come of the tensions over “bill shock.”)
The FCC survey found that that 30 million Americans — or one in six mobile users — have seen a sudden increase in their monthly bill not caused by a change in their service plan. The report also found that nearly half of cell phone users on plans that include early termination fees are unclear on how much they would owe if they quit before the end of their contract.
LimeWire Not Done Fighting Copyright Ruling (Hollywood Reporter) — LimeWire, one of the oldest surviving file-sharing networks on the Internet, is not done fighting against the music industry. The company is asking a New York district court to reconsider its big decision a couple weeks ago that the service was guilty of inducing and committing copyright infringement (and practicing unfair competition). In a motion filed Wednesday, LimeWire argues that the court made errors in its analysis of liability, including whether the company had the ability to supervise copyright infringement.
One Laptop Per Child's next move: the $100 tablet (AP) — The nonprofit organization that has tried to produce a $100 laptop for children in the world's poorest places is throwing in the towel on that idea and jumping on the tablet bandwagon. One Laptop Per Child’s next computer will be based on chipmaker Marvell Technology Group Ltd.'s Moby tablet design. Marvell announced a prototype of the device this year and said it costs about $99. Hon Hai May Raise China Wages 20% as Suicides Mount (Bloomberg) — Hon Hai Group, the assembler of Apple Inc.’s iPhones, may raise wages in China by 20 percent after a series of suicides at the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics.
OMB expected to relax ban on agencies' use of cookies (Nextgov) — The Office of Management and Budget is still revising a 2000 policy that forbids such devices, including cookies, on federal websites after soliciting public and agency comment last summer, OMB officials said on Wednesday. Cookies are applications that monitor visitors' navigation habits, such as pages they frequently visit or passwords they enter, so developers can update and enhance a website in accordance with their preferences.
Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) sided with major phone and cable companies in a letter discouraging Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski from a plan to boost the agency’s authority over broadband access providers.
Dingell expressed “grave concern” that the plan risks reversal by the courts, putting “at risk significant past and future investments, perhaps to the detriment of the Nation’s economic recovery and continued technological leadership,” he wrote Thursday.
Dingell said he doubts the plan despite his support for network neutrality rules, which the FCC hopes to enact under the authority it would gain through its administrative maneuver. Net neutrality rules, a central agenda item for the FCC, would aim to prevent Internet service providers from exercising too much power over the traffic traveling on their networks.
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