BRAD SMITH’S “TOOLS AND WEAPONS”
CNN On GPS: Do you have confidence in the privacy of YOUR data?
Microsoft president Brad Smith tells Fareed he believes there needs to be real reform of privacy laws in the U.S. and around the world
THIS WEEK IN WASHINGTON
The Washington Post The Cybersecurity 202: Pressure still on McConnell after $425 million election security deal
Democrats and activists plan to keep pressing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for major election security reforms — even after he endorsed delivering an additional $425 million to state and local election officials.
FedScoop Pentagon lacks tools, support to scale AI, says RAND report
The U.S. military’s plan to harness artificial intelligence for defense through the Joint AI Center is ambitious but it will need more resources and organizational support to scale the technology across the department, according to a new congressionally mandated report.
CNET House passes bills to improve the FCC’s broadband maps
Lawmakers in Congress are getting serious about figuring out who has broadband and who doesn’t to better target federal subsidies for rural broadband deployment. On Monday, the House of Representatives approved two bills designed to improve broadband mapping. The bills still need approval from the Senate before they make their way to President Donald Trump’s desk for signing.
ARTICLE SUMMARY
NBC News How Black Girls Code transformed from basement experiment to international movement
Throughout her biotech engineering career, Kimberly Bryant was the only black female in the room most of the time. And as Bryant rose the ranks to become manager at companies like DuPont, Phillip Morris and Genentech, she yearned for a more inclusive world for her daughter Kai.
The Hill What Big Tech is really doing to cut carbon
Although you can’t see it, cloud technology can produce a sizeable carbon footprint. When a user streams videos and sends messages back and forth, they access their data stored in the cloud via electricity. These data centers are still integral components of cloud computing and data storage, which emit 2 percent of all electricity usage in the United States. Estimates say that data centers contribute 0.3 percent of all global carbon emissions and are projected to increase.
Fortune New California Law Giving Consumers Control Over Their Data Sets Off a Scramble
California is preparing for the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to come into effect on 1 January 2020, and of all the Silicon Valley companies likely to be affected by the new regulation, Facebook, for one, has declared that it is “ready for California’s new privacy law”. The CCPA was passed last year by California’s state governor and is one of the strictest bills on data privacy in the US.
Market Brief Two Dozen State AGs Tell the Feds: Tighten Children’s Data Privacy Rules
The attorneys general from 24 states and the District of Columbia are urging the Federal Trade Commission to strengthen rules prohibiting ed-tech companies and other web-based platforms from collecting personal information from children under age 13 and using that information to track them online.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Broadband expanding to thousands in rural Wisconsin with $4.6 million from FCC
Broadband connections will expand to nearly 7,800 unserved rural homes and businesses in Wisconsin with new funding from the Federal Communications Commission. More than $4.6 million will come to Wisconsin over the next decade to expand broadband access in rural communities. Funding will begin to be distributed this month.
Entrepreneur Why We Need More Women in STEM and How AI Could Help Us Get There
Recently, Dr. France A. Córdova, director of the National Science Foundation, gave a presentation at the U.S. Council on Competitiveness meeting in Washington, D.C. She holds an extraordinary record of accomplishment and has made a tremendous impact on academia and the U.S.’s scientific community. Córdova is also the youngest person — and first woman — to serve as Chief Scientist at NASA. Her journey began with her love for STEM.
THINK TANK/TECH TRADE ASSOCIATION HIGHLIGHTS
The Brookings Institution
Blog on Data Protection
Privacy isn’t dead as some would suggest … but consent is. When was the last time you read a privacy policy for the apps on your mobile phone? Did you know that apps have privacy policies? How about reading the cookie notice on web pages you visit? Or reading the privacy notice on Internet-of-Things devices like your baby monitor? Let’s face it—almost nobody spends time reading privacy notices, and if you did it would take 76 work days per year to get through them. Despite this, privacy policy in the European Union and the United States is largely based on the myth that people read these notices and make informed decisions about how their data will be used, disclosed to third parties, and retained. Privacy notices are filled with legalese that often grants the company free rein to use your data. It’s time to move beyond consent.(Blog – Companies, not people, should bear the burden of protecting data, December 18, 2019)
Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
Blog on Data Privacy Legislation
For the past year, members of Congress have vowed to pursue federal data privacy legislation. While congressional staff have diligently worked on drafting legislation, they have repeatedly missed their deadlines to produce a bipartisan bill. Some observers might think this failure is just another casualty in the partisan divide that shapes many issues in Washington, but the real reason is that privacy activists have tasted victory with their no-compromise approach to data privacy in California. They refuse to settle for anything less at the federal level.. (Blog – Why Can’t Congress Pass Federal Data Privacy Legislation? Blame California, December 13, 2019)
Note: Voices for Innovation regularly shares a range of opinion articles and press releases from organizations in and publications covering tech policy. These pieces are meant to educate our audience, not to endorse specific platforms or bills.