- “Congress and Trump Agreed They Want a National Privacy Law. It Is Nowhere in Sight.“ – The New York Times. As we have periodically informed you, stakeholders in Congress are not close to reaching agreement on a privacy bill even with the effective date of the CCPA looming. Now it remains to be seen whether federal privacy legislation like federal data security and breach notification fades in the event industry decides they can live with the CCPA and similar statutes. Nonetheless, this article claims that Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) may be close to releasing a bill, and so is the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
- “U.S. online privacy rules unlikely this year, hurting big tech“ – Reuters. This article on the state of play for privacy legislation in Congress predicts a best case scenario as the release of a discussion draft before year’s end. However, fault lines continue to be whether an enhanced notice and consent regime would satisfy stakeholders and the extent to which consumer information can be shared with third parties. This article also alleges that Moran and Blumenthal and the House Energy and Commerce Committee release bills in the near future.
- “NSA launches new cyber defense directorate“ – The Washington Post. The National Security Agency unveiled its long rumored new Cybersecurity Directorate, “a major organization that unifies NSA’s foreign intelligence and cyberdefense missions” according to an NSA press release. The new entity will share better cyber threat information with private sector entities in critical sectors. Critics claim a reorganization was not necessary, and the NSA could have emphasized this mission through its Information Assurance Directorate.
- “With Facebook’s Coming News Tab, Only Some Will Get Paid” – The Wall Street Journal. Contrary to what some might have hoped for in the journalism industry, the social media platform will not be contributing to many organizations cash flow that appear on the new News feature. Facebook is looking to strike three year deals that could pay $3 million a year to organizations like the Wall Street Journal and less for regional publications. Facebook is also trying to avoid further conservative ire by working to include some conservative media sources while still trying to screen out disreputable sources regardless of political orientation.
- “Inside Pioneer: May the Best Silicon Valley Hustler Win” – WIRED. A tale that could only come from Silicon Valley. Startup entrepreneurs playing a game in the style of the Hunger Games without the killing.
- “Silicon Valley donors starting to back Elizabeth Warren despite her pledge to break up Big Tech” – CNBC. Even though she is refusing to do the kind of big money events at which Silicon Valley gets to access candidates and she wants to break up the tech giants, Senator Elizabeth (D-WA) is increasingly the front runner among many in the tech industry for a variety of reasons: her rivals seem to be dropping by the wayside, it seems like she can beat the President, and the realities of how changes happens or does not in Washington may be tempering fear about a Warren Administration.
- “Amazon sellers say online retail giant is trying to help itself, not consumers” – Washington Post. Turns out that Amazon is charging more and more fees and imposing more costs on the vendors that sell on its platform. Apparently, vendors have to pay $5,000 a month just reach a person or get support from the website, and vendors are paying to appear at the top of search results. At the same time, Amazon is rolling out more and more of its own branded products. Nonetheless as much as .35 cents of each dollar a vendor earns on Amazon goes to the tech giant.
- “Big Tech’s Complexity Will Strain FTC Resources, Agency Warns” – Bloomberg. The Federal Trade Commission’s Inspector General identified the increasingly complex, possibly increasingly expensive nature of investigations into technology firms being among the FTC’s top challenges.
- “Fighting Cyber Crime is Critical for National Security, Says Secret Service Chief” – Nextgov. The agency responsible for policing cyber crime makes the case for including transnational cyber criminals in the U.S.’s whole-of-government response on nation-state challenges.
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Michael Kans 