The FTC voted 3-2 Thursday to seek public comment on a potential privacy rulemaking to address “mass surveillance,” data breaches, deception and manipulation, as expected (see 2204180049).
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's former director highlighted the benefits of moving into the private sector and discussed what his former agency can do better to attract industry collaboration. Speaking Wednesday at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, Chris Krebs said moving into private practice has been “lucrative.” The last 18 months “for me have probably been the most fun in my career. Yes, I had fun at CISA. I’m having more fun now. ... We get paid pretty well in this industry.” Krebs said he ran compensation models at CISA trying to figure out why government isn’t attracting the necessary talent: “When you look at pay in this industry, it’s pretty illuminating.”
President Joe Biden signed the Chips and Science Act into law Tuesday, calling it a “once in a generation” investment that will help address the supply chain shortage, inflation, national security, jobs and climate change. He spoke for about 20 minutes before signing HR-4346 during a ceremony in the Rose Garden with dozens of congressional, administrative and industry attendees (see 2207280060 and 2208030052)
The U.S. would be in a “better place” if social media companies took “more responsibility” for misuse of their platforms, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee during an oversight hearing Thursday. Wray told members the bureau is doing what it can to monitor social media to combat domestic terrorism and other criminal activity.
Bipartisan legislation that would ban Big Tech platforms from self-preferencing products won’t get to the Senate floor, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told us last week. Other Republicans voiced frustration in interviews over comments from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who reportedly told fundraiser attendees last week that the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S-2992) doesn’t have the 10 Republican votes needed to clear the 60-vote threshold.
The House passed chips legislation Thursday in a 243-187-1 vote, sending the long-awaited science and technology package to President Joe Biden’s desk (see 2207270061). Twenty-four Republicans voted in favor, and zero Democrats voted against.
The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday advanced two pieces of children’s privacy legislation with overwhelming support, as expected (see 2207210056).
The Senate has the 60 votes needed to pass legislation that would ban Big Tech platforms from self-preferencing products (see 2206070059), Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told us Tuesday. They’re waiting for word from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., about floor time.
The Senate voted 64-32 Tuesday to invoke cloture on Congress’ amended chips package, setting up a potential vote on final passage in the upper chamber for Wednesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was the only Democratic caucus member to vote no. Seventeen Republicans voted in favor.
The health data privacy debate after the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade is focusing on social media platforms. Nearly 20 Republican state attorneys general asked Google Friday not to comply with Democrats’ request to “skew” search results and bury information on crisis pregnancy centers (see 2206290058). The Dobbs v. Jackson decision renewed questions about whether police should be able to access health data when prosecuting or blocking access to reproductive health services.