May 11, 2018

HILL UPDATE

Forbes Is The Dodd-Frank Of Privacy Coming?

Europe’s far-reaching General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) takes effect this May, and will be consequential for business and the world. Recent U.S. privacy and cybersecurity debacles suggest a Dodd-Frank-styled privacy overhaul may be in the making, lest the U.S. cede privacy and cybersecurity governance to the Europeans.

Recode Black lawmakers are impatient with tech’s lack of diversity and are threatening regulation to force the issue

Leading black lawmakers are growing impatient with tech’s largely unfulfilled promises to improve employee diversity. During the Congressional Black Caucus’ trip to Silicon Valley this week, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. shared her surprise to find out that many tech companies had only 1 to 2 percent black employees. The group discussed expanding the Community Reinvestment Act to include tech companies.

Reuters Equifax provides more detail to Congress on cyber security incident

Credit-monitoring firm Equifax Inc said on Monday it has sent a letter to several U.S. Congressional committees providing additional details on data that was breached in a cybersecurity incident in September. Equifax said that about 38,000 driver’s licenses and 3,200 passports details had been uploaded to the portal that had was hacked.

ARTICLE SUMMARY

 

FierceWireless Microsoft requests STA to support restoration efforts in Puerto Rico using TVWS

Microsoft recently filed an amendment to add the U.S. Virgin Islands as an additional area of operation for its TV white space deployment. This would allow the company to help restore communications in areas of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria. Microsoft’s intention is to operate TVWS radios on channels authorized for use across Puerto Rico supporting the recovery efforts of organizations like Net Hope, Claro and others. In these same areas, many broadcast TV operators are off the air due to the effects of the storms, but channel availability and power limits remain restricted for white space operations on or next to these channels.

Green Bay Press Gazette Column: Broadband critical to small business success

John Gard, the president of Wisconsin Independent Business, shares how broadband connectivity in rural areas impacts small business owners in this column. About 745,000 rural Wisconsinites remain on the wrong side of the “digital divide.” Many Wisconsin-based organizations are rallying behind TV White Space technology because it promises to expand rural broadband connectivity while relieving local providers of the need to build our expensive fiber networks to serve relatively small markets.

EdTech Magazine Microsoft to Use TV White Space to Put Wi-Fi on Rural School Buses

Microsoft wants to outfit school buses in Hillman, Mich., with high-speed internet to help bridge the “homework gap” that many rural students face because of lack of internet access at home. Working with Allband Communications, an internet service provider for northeastern Michigan, Microsoft will place equipment on buses and fixed base stations along the bus routes that use TV white space, or TVWS, for internet connectivity.

Green Bay Press Gazette Presentation on increasing broadband access in northeast Wisconsin, UP set

State Sen. Tom Tiffany and State Broadband Director Angie Dickison held a press conference and listening session at a Green Bay area high school to discuss plans to roll out TV white space broadband to 80,000 homes in Wisconsin. See this tweet from Sen. Tiffany.

Newsweek What’s In Those New Privacy Policies From Companies Like Instagram, LinkedIn?

Social media users in the United States were emailed notices over the last month or so with new detailed “Privacy Policy” and “Terms of Service” agreements from the companies they have accounts with. The changes go into effect before May 25, when any company operating on the web in a country in the European Union needs to adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation. GDPR requires that companies provide their users a means to access the data the company has stored on them.

Newsweek Trump H-1B Visa Restrictions Are Illegal, Tech Companies Allege In Lawsuit Against USCIS

Several technology companies have sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) over a recent policy memo that placed greater restrictions on companies that contract out workers with H-1B visas. The tech companies argue that the public policy is meant to increase access to IT professionals, not increase burdens on U.S. companies to retain those resources.