Simply put, if a household is receiving federal housing assistance, that household should be connected. We’ve made great progress getting eligible households connected. Through the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Housing and Urban Development’s ongoing partnership, we have made it easier than ever to enroll in the Affordable Connectivity Program. But there is more work to do. Approximately 5 million households receive federal housing assistance and are eligible for ACP. So, I hope we can build on the momentum we have and, with your support, get every one of your eligible households enrolled. It's clear—ACP is a success and a priority for the Biden Administration. President Biden officially asked Congress to appropriate another $6 billion to continue to support the over 21 million households relying on the program. This is a huge deal! I have consistently called for ACP to be re-funded to continue on the fantastic work we have done to connect those most in need. President Biden’s leadership will ensure that those already in the program are supported, and that we can continue to sign up even more eligible households so they can take advantage of all the opportunities broadband has to offer.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) awarded nearly $54 million to 64 projects in 217 counties through its POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Initiative, which directs federal resources to economic diversification projects in Appalachian communities affected by job losses in coal mining, coal power plant operations, and coal-related supply chain industries. Included in the awards is a grant of $2,500,000 to Washington County, Pennsylvania, for Washington County's East Finley Broadband Expansion project. This project will enable Washington County to contract with a preferred vendor to expand the provision of high-speed broadband services to 857 unserved locations in East Finley Township. The preferred vendor will design, build, maintain, and own a broadband network to make available a full suite of services, including broadband service, voice, video, and home security. This project is part of phase III of Washington County’s county-wide internet access expansion effort. The contract for high-speed internet services will provide economic and educational benefits to 808 unserved or underserved residences and 49 unserved or underserved businesses over the course of the grant period.

Governor John Carney (D-DE) joined state leaders and representatives of Comcast, Verizon, Mediacom, and the Communication Workers of America (CWA) at the Innovation Technology Exploration Center to celebrate progress on broadband expansion and preview next steps. With federal investments from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocated by Governor Carney, Delaware has successfully connected nearly 6,000 homes, businesses, and organizations to broadband in the last year. Delaware is on track to become the first state in the nation to be fully-connected. President Biden signed the nearly $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to provide COVID-19 relief to millions of Americans, and Governor Carney assigned $33 million of Delaware’s share for broadband expansion. In the last 12 months, the State of Delaware and Comcast, Medicom, and Verizon have made high-speed internet available for the first time to 5,859 homes and businesses, mainly in rural areas of the state. There are 372 locations remaining to be installed with ARPA funding. Those locations will be reached over the next few months. Once those residences are competed, the State of Delaware will have spent $33 million in ARPA funding on broadband connection.

Net neutrality has become the Washington equivalent of a Hollywood franchise: As if the sequel to the sequel weren’t enough, another installment of the debate over rules for the internet’s roads arrived this month. This time, however, there’s a plot twist. What, exactly, net neutrality rules look like matters less than that there are meaningful rules for broadband more generally. Broadband is an essential service. Yet there isn’t a single government agency with sufficient authority to oversee this vital tool. Asserting federal authority over broadband would empower regulation of any blocking, throttling or anti-competitive paid traffic prioritization that they might engage in. But it could also help ensure the safety and security of US networks. The Telecommunications Act’s complex, archaic classification scheme has never been well-suited to the modern internet. How could it be, when in 1996 the narrow swath of American society that could get online at all had to dial up? Ideally, Congress would write a new law for a new era. And, ideally, lawmakers would also consider other elements of the internet technology industry that define Americans’ online experience, including app stores, social media sites and more. In the less-than-ideal present, however, the FCC is the only body proposing any version of internet governance. It would be better than nothing.

The information collected by, and stored within, mobile networks can represent one of the most current and comprehensive dossiers of our life. Our mobile phones are connected to these networks and reveal our behaviours, demographic details, social communities, shopping habits, sleeping patterns, and where we live and work, as well as provide a view into our travel history. This information, in aggregate, is jeopardized, however, by technical vulnerabilities in mobile communications networks. Such vulnerabilities can be used to expose intimate information to many diverse actors and are tightly linked to how mobile phones roam across mobile operators’ networks when we travel. Specifically, these vulnerabilities are most often tied to the signaling messages that are sent between telecommunications networks which expose the phones to different modes of location disclosure. This report provides a high-level overview of the geolocation-related threats associated with contemporary networks that depend on the protocols used by 3G, 4G, and 5G network operators, followed by evidence of the proliferation of these threats. 

President Biden issued a landmark Executive Order to ensure that America leads the way in seizing the promise and managing the risks of artificial intelligence (AI). The Executive Order establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more. The Executive Order directs the following actions:

• New Standards for AI Safety and Security: As AI’s capabilities grow, so do its implications for Americans’ safety and security. With this Executive Order, the President directs the most sweeping actions ever taken to protect Americans from the potential risks of AI systems.
• Protecting Americans’ Privacy: Without safeguards, AI can put Americans’ privacy further at risk. AI not only makes it easier to extract, identify, and exploit personal data, but it also heightens incentives to do so because companies use data to train AI systems. To better protect Americans’ privacy, including from the risks posed by AI, the President calls on Congress to pass bipartisan data privacy legislation to protect all Americans, especially kids.
• Advancing Equity and Civil Rights: Irresponsible uses of AI can lead to and deepen discrimination, bias, and other abuses in justice, healthcare, and housing. The Biden-Harris Administration has already taken action by publishing the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and issuing an Executive Order directing agencies to combat algorithmic discrimination, while enforcing existing authorities to protect people’s rights and safety. 
• Standing Up for Consumers, Patients, and Students: AI can bring real benefits to consumers—for example, by making products better, cheaper, and more widely available. But AI also raises the risk of injuring, misleading, or otherwise harming Americans. 
• Supporting Workers: AI is changing America’s jobs and workplaces, offering both the promise of improved productivity but also the dangers of increased workplace surveillance, bias, and job displacement. 
• Promoting Innovation and Competition: America already leads in AI innovation—more AI startups raised first-time capital in the United States in 2022 than in the next seven countries combined. 
• Advancing American Leadership Abroad: AI’s challenges and opportunities are global. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue working with other nations to support safe, secure, and trustworthy deployment and use of AI worldwide.
• Ensuring Responsible and Effective Government Use of AI: AI can help government deliver better results for the American people. It can expand agencies’ capacity to regulate, govern, and disburse benefits, and it can cut costs and enhance the security of government systems. However, use of AI can pose risks, such as discrimination and unsafe decisions.