Gavin MacFadyen, Mentor and Defender of WikiLeaks Founder
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2016 (3!!! Go Cubs!)
Today's Event -- Cyber Insecurity: Emerging Policy Tools in Cybersecurity, New America -- https://www.benton.org/node/248273
FCC MEETING
FCC Acts to Increase Consumer Privacy Choice
FCC Rejects Reconsideration of Calling Card Company Fines - press release
FCC's Wheeler Won't 'Hip Shoot' on AT&T-Time Warner Merger Role [links to Benton summary]
Chairman Wheeler: ISPs Have Ability to Deal With DDoS Attacks [links to Benton summary]
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Announces Staff Changes - press release [links to Benton summary]
FCC Announces Excellence in Economics, Engineering Award Winners - press release [links to Benton summary]
FCC Announces Tentative Agenda For November 2016 Open Meeting - press release
Improving Wireless Coverage in Rural America - Chairman Wheeler blog [links to Benton summary]
FCC Schedules November Vote on Bulk Data Price Caps [links to Benton summary]
AT&T/TIME WARNER
How the AT&T/Time Warner Deal Could Hurt Low-Income Families - Tim Karr op-ed
The merger or the market? - The Hill op-ed
Senate Judiciary Slates Dec. 7 hearing on AT&T-Time Warner [links to Multichannel News]
Vertical limit: AT&T's takeover of Time Warner should be blocked - The Economist editorial [links to Benton summary]
Demand Progress Demands AT&T/TW Be Stopped [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
FCC's Wheeler Won't 'Hip Shoot' on AT&T-Time Warner Merger Role [links to Benton summary]
AT&T-Time Warner Merger Could Impact Disney’s ESPN [links to Benton summary]
ELECTIONS 2016
Trump campaign using targeted Facebook posts to discourage black Americans from voting
Trump’s plan for a comeback includes building a ‘psychographic’ profile of every voter
What Trump could (and couldn’t) do to restrict press freedom if elected - CJR analysis
Donald Trump Thinks He’s Receiving Worst Media Treatment ‘In American History’ (Video) [links to Wrap, The]
Donald Trump is getting back in the game — the interview game [links to Washington Post]
Donald Trump is in the fight of his life: Saving his brand [links to Washington Post]
Clinton camp blindsided by e-mail story [links to Benton summary]
Why don't millennials vote as much as older generations? Blame institutional road blocks. [links to Mic]
Tech privacy ally Russ Feingold leads in Wisconsin Senate race [links to Benton summary]
Senate Democratic super PAC sets fundraising record [links to Benton summary]
NY Times’ Dean Baquet says CNN wrong to hire Trump’s Lewandowski as commentator; accuses cable networks of blurring lines [links to Financial Times]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
The Next Step to Modernizing Lifeline: Ensuring Smooth Implementation to Reach Underconnected - NHMC
FCC Provides Guidance on Rolling Recertification Pursuant to the Lifeline Modernization Order - public notice [links to Benton summary]
Lifeline Connects Coalition Seeks Waiver of Certain Lifeline Rules - press release [links to Benton summary]
Mapping Computer and Internet Use by State: Introducing Data Explorer 2.0 - NTIA press release [links to Benton summary]
What Went Wrong With Google Fiber? - Vice analysis [links to Benton summary]
The City That Was Saved by the Internet [links to Benton summary]
Wilson (NC) To Offer Municipal Internet service To Pinetops (NC) At No Charge [links to Benton summary]
This Guy in Chattanooga Has the Fastest Home Internet in the United States [links to Vice]
Cox Extends Usage-Based Data Trial to More Markets in FL and GA [links to Multichannel News]
FTTH Satisfaction: Only Safe Streets Beats Out Quality Broadband for Choosing Where to Live [links to telecompetitor]
OWNERSHIP
Representatives Urge FCC to Act on Nexstar-Media General Deal
Qualcomm to Buy NXP Semiconductors for $39 Billion
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Why AT&T Is Still Spying On Your Phone Calls Three Years After We Complained to the FCC. And Why That May Or May Not Change Tomorrow. - Harold Feld op-ed
A court will decide whether Facebook used you to violate the privacy of all your friends
Groups Urge President Obama to Protect Our Privacy by Taking a Stand for Strong Encryption - Free Press press release [links to Benton summary]
Privacy group launches legal challenge against EU-US data pact [links to Benton summary]
Lawmakers Press Justice Department on Expanded Police Hacking Powers [links to nextgov]
Groups Urge President Obama to Protect Our Privacy by Taking a Stand for Strong Encryption - Free Press press release [links to Benton summary]
Do Parents Invade Children's Privacy When They Post Photos Online? [links to National Public Radio]
CONTENT
Twitter is shutting down its video app Vine [links to Vox]
What the Internet loses when Vine shuts down [links to Washington Post]
How These Netflix and NPR Vets Plan To Reinvent Podcasts [links to Fast Company]
A Suicide Cult’s Surviving Members Still Maintain Its 90s Website [links to Vice]
This ‘disgusting’ app for rich people is actually all of us [links to Washington Post]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Study Shows That 75% of Global Internet Access Will Be From Mobile This Year [links to AdWeek]
What Oct 21’s Internet Shut Down Really Means - Susan Crawford op-ed [links to Benton summary]
LABOR
How digital readiness affects job retraining for labor market growth - Brookings [links to Benton summary]
DIVERSITY
Sexism in Silicon Valley is bad, but it may be even worse in Hollywood [links to Vox]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Open Up! Open Use Policies for Information Can Power Open Movements - New America press release [links to Benton summary]
POLICYMAKERS
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Announces Staff Changes - press release [links to Benton summary]
Comcast names Beth Choroser Vice President of Regulatory Affairs - press release [links to Benton summary]
Washington's Chief Privacy Officer Tackles Issues In 3 Broad Categories [links to Government Technology]
COMPANY NEWS
Verizon makes serious play for entertainment, but will the wireless carrier succeed? [links to Los Angeles Times]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Study Shows That 75% of Global Internet Access Will Be From Mobile This Year [links to AdWeek]
Canadian police get cell-site data to text thousands near murder scene [links to Ars Technica]
Privacy group launches legal challenge against EU-US data pact [links to Benton summary]
WhatsApp asked by European regulators to pause sharing user data with Facebook [links to Guardian, The]
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FCC MEETING
FCC ADOPTS BROADBAND PRIVACY RULES
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Robbie McBeath]
[Commentary] In today's digital world, consumers deserve the ability to make informed choices about their online privacy. On October 27, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to ensure that broadband customers have meaningful choice, greater transparency, and strong security protections for their personal information collected by Internet service providers (ISPs). The rules give consumers greater control over their ISPs’ use and sharing of their personal information, and provide them with ways to easily adjust their privacy preferences over time. The rules are designed to evolve with changing technologies and encourage innovation. The rules implement the privacy requirements of Section 222 of the Communications Act for broadband ISPs, giving broadband customers the tools they need to make informed decisions about how their information is used and shared by their ISPs. To provide consumers more control over the use of their personal information, the rules establish a framework of customer consent required for ISPs to use and share their customers’ personal information that is calibrated to the sensitivity of the information. This approach is consistent with other privacy frameworks, including the Federal Trade Commission’s and the Administration’s Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.
https://www.benton.org/blog/fcc-acts-increase-consumer-privacy-choice
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CALLING CARDS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission rejected petitions for reconsideration of $20 million in fines issued against four prepaid calling card companies for deceptively marketing their products. In October 2015, the FCC issued separate $5 million fines against four calling card companies, Locus Telecommunications, Lyca Tel, NobelTel, and Touch-Tel USA, following an investigation by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. Each of the companies formally asked the FCC to reconsider those fines in four, separate petitions for reconsideration. The FCC dismisses and denies those requests and continues to seek payment of the fines. The FCC has referred these matters to the US Department of Justice, which leads the process of collecting outstanding fines in federal court. The companies’ advertisements, apparently targeting immigrant communities, suggested that their calling cards could be used for hundreds or thousands of minutes of international calls. Multiple fees and surcharges added by the companies, however, caused the actual calling minutes available to consumers to be much fewer than advertised.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-rejects-reconsideration-calling-card-company-fines | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC ANNOUNCES TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR NOV OPEN MEETING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the November Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 17, 2016:
Mobility Fund: The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would adopt rules for the second phase of the Mobility Fund, which would provide ongoing universal service support dedicated to expanding the availability of mobile broadband networks. (WT Docket No. 10-208; WC Docket No. 10-90)
Roaming Obligations of Commercial Mobile Service Providers and Regulatory Classification of Voice over LTE Service: The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on proposals to implement a unified roaming standard and to classify Voice over LTE. (WT Docket No. 16-356)
Business Data Services: The Commission will consider a Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would allow for light-touch regulation of packet-based Business Data Services and retain and update price cap regulation for lower-bandwidth TDMbased Business Data Services to ensure that lack of competition does not unfairly harm commercial customers or the consumers who rely upon these services. (WC Docket Nos. 16-143, 15-247, 05-25; GN Docket No. 13-5; RM-10593)
Video Description: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010: The Commission will consider a Report and Order which addresses the amount of video described programming required to be made available to consumers. (MB Docket No. 11-43)
benton.org/headlines/fcc-announces-tentative-agenda-november-2016-open-meeting | Federal Communications Commission | B&C
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AT&T/TIME WARNER
HOW THE ATT/TIME WARNER DEAL COULD HURT LOW-INCOME FAMILIES
[SOURCE: Time, AUTHOR: Tim Karr]
[Commentary] AT&T executives think their plan to take over Time Warner is too big to fail. But the proposed merger’s astronomical cost may prove them wrong. For the deal to go through, AT&T and Time Warner need the approval of government regulators, especially those at the Department of Justice, who will vet it to see if it violates antitrust laws. But there’s another metric by which regulators should evaluate the merger: its impact on real people, especially low-income households and communities of color. AT&T will need to regularly pay interest to service its massive debt. The telecommunications giant doesn’t print cash; it bills customers. In other words, to pay down its interest, AT&T will have to hike prices. Higher prices would put Internet access further out of reach of the more than 30 million adults in this country stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide. According to US Census data, this gap is most pronounced in African-American and Hispanic communities. People already suffering from generations of systemic racism are disadvantaged further by lack of access to the educational and work opportunities that are at the fingertips of those with high-speed connections. For the enormous amount of money AT&T is shelling out to acquire Time Warner, it could run super-fast gigabit-fiber Internet services to every single home in America. There’s no doubt that this mega-merger doesn’t benefit ordinary Americans. People want reliable, cheap and fast connections to the open Internet. We also need a choice of providers, not a few bloated companies controlling access to both the Internet and the content that flows across it. The merger of AT&T and Time Warner is just too big and costly to accomplish that. For that reason, it must be blocked.
[Tim Karr is the senior director of strategy for Free Press]
benton.org/headlines/how-atttime-warner-deal-could-hurt-low-income-families | Time
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THE MERGER OR THE MARKET?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mark Cooper]
[Commentary] For the third time in less than a decade, AT&T is merging again. In the wake of the announcement, there is rampant speculation on whether it’s unconscionable or inevitable. However, whether or not the $85 billion merger rises to the level of an outright rejection or just strong conditions, there is still a far more profound problem, which is not the merger, but the market itself. Four massive firms (AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Charter) now totally dominate the digital communications landscape. Preventing any further consolidation of distribution is a no brainer, but that will still not address the underlying problem. Public policy cannot force firms to compete and the prospects of a new distribution network entering the market are slim to none. Breaking up the dominant firms requires decades of litigation and may not succeed. Our only option is to ensure these mammoth network operators cannot use their power over the pipes to stymie competition for the content and applications that ride over them. However, the Federal Communications Commission has four active and nearly complete proceedings that will further that goal and the proposed AT&T Time Warner transaction makes completing them all the more critical: Set Top Boxes, Zero rating, Privacy, and Business Data Services.
[Dr. Mark Cooper is the Director of Research at the Consumer Federation of America.]
benton.org/headlines/merger-or-market | Hill, The
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ELECTIONS 2016
TRUMP CAMPAIGN USING TARGETED FACEBOOK POSTS TO DISCOURAGE BLACK AMERICANS FROM VOTING
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Colin Lecher]
While the Trump campaign continues to flounder weeks before Election Day, a new report is providing some inside information on the candidate's strategy, including an unorthodox use of Facebook. Businessweek explains how the Trump team has quietly organized a data enterprise to sharpen its White House bid. The campaign is meanwhile attempting to depress votes in demographics where Hillary Clinton is winning by wide margins. In one move, the Trump campaign reportedly created a cartoon animation with Clinton repeating her now-infamous line about "super predators," pairing it with the text, "Hillary Thinks African Americans are Super Predators." Businessweek reports that the Trump campaign is planning to use the ad in so-called "dark" Facebook posts — targeted, paid posts — to convince black voters not to come out for Election Day. Certainly there's nothing new about political ads trashing an opponent — but using Facebook to target the opposition's supporters is a different strategy. As Businessweek points out, there's no widely available evidence that such a plan will work. It may even backfire, unintentionally convincing some Americans to vote instead. But, the data the Trump campaign has built may be the foundation for a Trump project launching well past Election Day.
benton.org/headlines/trump-campaign-using-targeted-facebook-posts-discourage-black-americans-voting | Verge, The | Bloomberg
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TRUMP'S PLAN FOR A COMEBACK INCLUDES BUILDING 'PSYCHOGRAPHIC' PROFILE OF EVERY VOTER
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Michael Kranish]
In a Fifth Avenue office near Trump Tower, a company being paid millions of dollars by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign says it has developed a political weapon powerful enough to help the Republican nominee overcome his troubles and win the White House. The key is a psychological model for identifying voters that can “determine the personality of every single adult in the United States of America,” said Alexander Nix, chief executive of Cambridge Analytica. The little-known company, which has operated in the United States for four years, opened its office here only a month ago and is clearly at the center of Trump’s quest for a last-minute comeback against Democrat Hillary Clinton. New federal filings show the campaign’s payments to the firm ballooning from $250,000 in August to $5 million in September. The reliance on Cambridge reflects a recognition by Trump’s campaign that drastic measures are required to erase a potentially irreversible disparity between Trump’s get-out-the-vote operation and Clinton’s meticulously built machinery. The firm says it can predict how most people will vote by using up to 5,000 pieces of data about every American adult, combined with the result of hundreds of thousands of personality and behavioral surveys, to identify millions of voters who are most open to being persuaded to support Trump.
benton.org/headlines/trumps-plan-comeback-includes-building-psychographic-profile-every-voter | Washington Post
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WHAT TRUMP COULD AND COULDN'T DO TO RESTRICT PRESS FREEDOM IF ELECTED
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Jonathan Peters]
First, could President Trump “open up our libel laws”? No. States create nearly all libel laws, and they’re subject to First Amendment limits. Trump couldn’t require states to change their laws, any more than he could require the Supreme Court to change its First Amendment jurisprudence, or require Congress to rewrite the First Amendment. This is a matter of eighth-grade civics.
Second, could President Trump change the Freedom of Information Act? Kind of. He alone couldn’t amend the law, but he could affect its implementation. For example, on his first full day in office, President Barack Obama signed one executive order and two presidential memoranda heralding a “new era of openness” that would, among other things, re-establish a presumption of disclosure for records requested under the FOIA—and reverse President George W. Bush’s changes to the Presidential Records Act, to hold his own records “to a new standard of openness.”
Third, could President Trump crack down on public affairs reporting? Yes, most likely in the area of national security—if his Department of Justice prosecuted journalists under, say, the Espionage Act, something that has occurred once before, or if his DOJ tried to obtain an injunction against publication, or prosecuted leakers and subpoenaed journalists to supply information. Another route would be to issue an executive order modifying how classified information must be handled, or allowing information to be classified for longer periods.
Fourth, what if President Trump simply didn’t like the press, as he’s been saying on the campaign trail? What impact could that have? It could mean Trump would be less accessible to journalists or wouldn’t invite them to certain functions or press conferences.
benton.org/headlines/what-trump-could-and-couldnt-do-restrict-press-freedom-if-elected | Columbia Journalism Review
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
NEXT STEP TO MODERNIZING LIFELINE
[SOURCE: National Hispanic Media Coalition, AUTHOR: Andrew Lomeli]
Dec 2016, the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline modernization order will finally go into effect, empowering millions of low-income Americans with the resources to access high-speed Internet. Lifeline’s modernization couldn’t come at a more critical time. Half of all Latinos lack broadband access at home, and high monthly costs are most often cited as the primary barrier for non-adoption. Further, 69% of Americans find the lack of home broadband access to be a major disadvantage. Beginning December 2, broadband providers will have the option to provide Lifeline-eligible services that meet certain FCC minimum standards. Wireless data plans must offer at least 500 mb/month, and fixed broadband service must offer 150 GB at download speeds of 10 mbps and upload speeds of 1 mbps. Participants interested in mobile voice-only plans can continue to apply the subsidy to plans offering at least 500 voice minutes. Starting in December 2017, the subsidies for voice-only plans will gradually decline until these plans are completely phased out of the Lifeline program in 2021. Also going into effect this December will be new Lifeline eligibility guidelines. Consumers can continue to automatically qualify for Lifeline benefits through participation in federal assistance programs such as Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Federal Public Housing Assistance. Consumers receiving Veterans Pension or Survivors Pension benefits will also now be eligible. Participants will also still be able to qualify by proving they earn less than 135% of the federal poverty level. However, customers will no longer be able to use Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), National School Lunch Program (NSLP), or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to automatically qualify. Also beginning in December, the National Hispanic Media Coalition will begin working with allies and broadband providers to ensure low-income families across the country can take advantage of Lifeline and stay connected with loved ones, vital government resources, and homework help. We’ll be working with other community organizations to sponsor events across the country to help consumers sign up for Lifeline benefits.
benton.org/headlines/next-step-modernizing-lifeline-ensuring-smooth-implementation-reach-underconnected | National Hispanic Media Coalition
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OWNERSHIP
REPS URGE FCC TO ACT ON NEXSTAR-MEDIA GENERAL DEAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Three members of the Congressional Black Caucus have urged the Federal Communications Commission to give "strong consideration" to ruling on the Nexstar-Media General merger, saying delay could hurt diversity. The companies did not file requests to transfer the licenses until after the deadline for doing so if the deal involved stations eligible for the incentive auction, which it did. They have asked for a waiver, but the FCC has yet to act on that request. In a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Reps Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Cedric Richmond (D-LA) cited the fact that the deal includes spin-offs of Fox and NBC affiliates to a third broadcaster, Bayou City, which they say is the only African-American broadcaster in the country owning, operating and managing "every aspect" of its TV stations. "We are concerned about the possible unintended impacts the moratorium could have on diversity in broadcast ownership," they said. Given that, they told Chairman Wheeler in a letter, "We strongly urge the Commission give full consideration to the request being filed by Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Media General seeking a limited waiver of the auction rules allowing them to close the merger and related transactions," Bayou City being one of the latter. The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) have also asked the FCC to grant Nexstar’s waiver request so its deal to buy Media General can close without having to wait for the broadcast incentive auction to do likewise. They argue that delaying the merger until the auction is over is having a significant adverse financial impact on Bayou.
benton.org/headlines/representatives-urge-fcc-act-nexstar-media-general-deal | Broadcasting&Cable
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QUALCOMM TO BUY NXP SEMICONDUCTORS FOR $39 BILLION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: George Stahl, Dana Cimilluca, Don Clark]
Qualcomm agreed to buy NXP Semiconductors NV for $39 billion, adding the top supplier of automotive chips to the San Diego (CA) company best known for designing smartphone chips. The agreement represents the biggest semiconductor deal ever, eclipsing Avago Technologies Ltd.’s pact to buy rival Broadcom Corp. for $37 billion, and behind only Dell Inc.’s $60 billion acquisition of EMC Corp. among pure tech deals. The deal values NXP at $110 a share, which represents a 34% premium over where NXP shares traded before The Wall Street Journal reported on the talks Sept. 29. Including debt, the deal is worth $47 billion. NXP’s position in the fast-growing automotive-chip market was seen as a motivation for the deal because analysts say Qualcomm wants to supply its chips for self-driving cars. The combined company is expected to have annual revenue of more than $30 billion. The deal will reshape Qualcomm, pushing the company deeper into the process of making chips and expanding its product line beyond mobile devices. While Qualcomm derives most of its revenue from designing and selling chips, the company earns more than half of its profits from licensing its wireless patents to nearly all makers of mobile phones. NXP, which became a bigger manufacturer through the purchase in 2015 of Freescale Semiconductor, owns seven factories in five countries that turn silicon wafers into chips. Besides those plants, known as fabs, NXP operates seven facilities that package and test chips before they are sold.
benton.org/headlines/qualcomm-buy-nxp-semiconductors-39-billion | Wall Street Journal | CNN
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
WHY AT&T IS STILL SPYING ON YOUR PHONE CALLS
[SOURCE: Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] Back in 2013, the NY Times broke a story that AT&T routinely sold “de-identified” phone data to the CIA. Because the CIA is not allowed to do domestic spying, AT&T would sell supposedly anonymous data to the CIA, which would then give the information to the FBI. The FBI would then use its domestic spy powers to get the information from AT&T. In addition to being a rather outrageous work around of laws designed to protect Americans from domestic spying, I argued that AT&T’s program violated federal telemarketing and phone privacy rules, aka Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222) also known as the “customer proprietary network information” (CPNI) rules. So my employer Public Knowledge, with a number of other public interest and privacy advocates, filed a Request for Declaratory Ruling with the Federal Communications Commission asking the FCC to declare that AT&T selling “de-identified” phone information without customer consent violated the CPNI Rules. Recently, the Daily Beast reported that AT&T continues to engage in precisely this practice nearly 3 years after we asked the FCC to declare it violated their privacy rules. In fact, the sale to the CIA turned out to be the just part of a larger AT&T “product” called “Project Hemisphere.” According to the Daily Beast and others, law enforcement agencies pay millions of dollars annually to circumvent warrant requirements and gain access to all sorts of call information the law purportedly protects. Which raises the interesting question — why didn’t the FCC do anything on our 3 year old complaint? Recently, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a draft Order to the full Commission for a vote scheduled for Oct 27. According to the fact sheet published by the Chairman’s office, the proposed rules will allow for “de-identification,” subject to certain protections. Of particular relevance here, carriers that certify data is anonymized must not re-identify the data, and must have contractual limits that prevent third parties from re-identifying the data.
[Harold Feld is senior vice president for Public Knowledge]
benton.org/headlines/why-att-still-spying-your-phone-calls-three-years-after-we-complained-fcc-and-why-may-or | Huffington Post
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COURT WILL DECIDE WHETHER FACEBOOK USED YOU TO VIOLATE THE PRIVACY OF ALL YOUR FRIENDS
[SOURCE: Quartz, AUTHOR: Ananya Bhattacharya]
Here’s what we know: Every time you tag a friend in a Facebook photo, Facebook stores their image in its database. And here’s what we’re about to find out: whether that’s an illegal violation of users’ privacy. On Oct 27, a class-action lawsuit alleging that the world’s largest social network is violating its users’ privacy will enter phase two. Specifically, a San Francisco court will assess whether Facebook is breaking the law by using its facial-recognition tool, to identify faces in photographs uploaded by users, or by collecting those photographs into a central database. In use since 2010, Facebook claims its facial-recognition tool is now 97.35% accurate, which is great news if you’re trying to tag overcrowded party pictures, but less so if you’re worried about privacy. Plaintiffs in the case are concerned on a number of fronts: Facebook could be selling identifying information to retailers or other third parties. More importantly, they worry that biometric data is just as susceptible to theft, hacking, and the long and invasive arm of law enforcement as other types of data. It also alleges that Facebook failed to acquire consent before collecting “faceprints.” The class-action suit hinges on a unique Illinois law passed in 2008, called the Biometric Information Privacy Act. It states that if companies fail to get consent from users before storing biometric information, they can be subject to a $5,000 fine, plus $1,000 in damages if the violation shows negligence. That’s per violation. For a company with 7 million users in Illinois, that could mean fines as high as $35 million. So far, Facebook and Google have insisted that gathering data on what you look like isn’t against the law, even if it’s done without your explicit permission. Facebook says the current class-action lawsuit should be dismissed because there is no proof of actual damage, such as someone losing their job or a relationship being harmed because of embarrassing or compromising photos getting out. Still, a judge in May allowed the case to proceed.
benton.org/headlines/court-will-decide-whether-facebook-used-you-violate-privacy-all-your-friends | Quartz
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