1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2018

September 2018

Commissioner Rosenworcel Launches New Podcast Focused On Women In Technology

Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel launched “Broadband Conversations,” a podcast dedicated to highlighting women who are making an impact on our digital lives. Each episode, Commissioner Rosenworcel will talk to women who are breaking new ground and forging new paths in technology, media, and innovation about what they’re working on, what’s on their minds, what they think is the next for the future. The first episode, featuring Sen Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), was released Sept 19.

California Attorney General gets Privacy Boost

Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) signed into law a state funding bill that will grant Attorney General Xavier Becerra $700,000 and five new staffers to help craft and implement the state’s sweeping new privacy law. AG Becerra has reportedly told Gov. Brown he expects to issue final rules under the law by June 2019, in advance of the measure taking effect on Jan. 1, 2020. The newly-minted funding law will help bolster the state’s effort to install what’s been touted as the strongest state-level online privacy safeguards in the country.

Sen Thune eyes 2019 for privacy legislation push

As the Senate Commerce Committee prepares to bring in tech and telecom officials for a hearing on consumer privacy, Chairman John Thune (R-SD) has suggested Congress should legislate. That would be welcome to many tech and telecom heavyweights wary of a patchwork of state privacy rules (like those recently passed in California) that could be more onerous to deal with than a single federal framework.

Google, T-Mobile Tackle 911 Call Problem

Emergency call operators will soon have an easier time pinpointing the whereabouts of Android phone users. Google has struck a deal with T-Mobile to pipe location data from cellphones with Android operating systems in the US to emergency call centers. The move is a sign that smartphone operating system providers and carriers are taking steps to improve the quality of location data they send when customers call 911. Locating callers has become a growing problem for 911 operators as cellphone usage has proliferated.

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