Tech Policy Leaders

Michael Connor (@NYMichaelConnor) is the Executive Director of Open MIC, which he helped launch following a distinguished career as a media executive, entrepreneur and journalist. He has served as a consultant for more than a decade in the field of corporate responsibility and is the owner and Editor of Business Ethics magazine, an online publication.

Michael is a former staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal and Correspondent and Senior Producer for ABC News. His television work has received numerous honors, including two national Emmys, a Columbia-duPont Award, a Writers Guild Award and a nomination for an Academy Award. He also held executive positions at Dow Jones & Co., where he led global development of the company's TV and multimedia operations, served as CEO of a London-based pan-European business news channel and was Executive Producer of The Wall Street Journal Report, a weekly syndicated program.

Michael currently serves on the board of the Center for an Urban Future, a NYC-based think tank dedicated to highlighting the critical opportunities and challenges facing New York and other cities. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross.

Open MIC

Amazon fires employees critical of the company's working conditions

Amazon fired 3 employees last week who were critical of working conditions at the online retail behemoth which reached a market cap milestone of $1 trillion in January. The employees were fired for complaining about the company's coronavirus response, urging the company to increase cleaning at its facilities, and joining public protests opposing the company's practices. Organizers are calling for a mass employee walkout on April 24th. Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos' net worth currently stands at $139.4 billion.

Where are the unemployment checks?

The U.S. unemployment rate is estimated at around 17%--the worst its been since the 1930s. The Nation's unemployment insurance system, which was set up to compensate those who have lost their jobs, can't keep up with the number of new unemployment claims surpassing the 20 million mark. A major reason for the problem is that the agency relies on COBOL, an outdated programming language that few programmers seem to know. So those who are unemployed have yet to receive their weekly checks, which, with the stimulus, can be as high as $1,000.

ACLU sues City of Baltimore over aerial surveillance

The City of Baltimore has reportedly entered into a contract that will allow private phone companies to conduct aerial surveillance and search for evidence. The pilot program claims to be designed to investigate murders, nonfatal shootings, armed robberies, and carjackings. The ACLU is challenging the program on the Fourth Amendment's reasonable expectation of privacy guarantee and the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of association.

Will students take the SAT online

The SAT and ACT college entrance exams announced last week that they'd be developing digital versions of the test to allow prospective students to take them from home. But the SAT's bosses at the College Board, namely its President, David Coleman, say that it's unlikely the SAT would be conducted online. Over the past few years, many have question whether the SAT is even necessary, including Cornell, New York University, UT Austin, American University, and others, which have eliminated the requirement that students take the SAT as an admissions prerequisite. And many advocates point to the likelihood that administering the tests remotely would exacerbate current achievement gaps since the quality of testing environments would vary significantly between low-income and high-income test takers. In any case, the June, in person SAT has been cancelled.

President seems confident, but does he have the data to back him up?

President Trump has been adamant that he wants to reopen the government by May 1st. But where's the data to back him up? The CDC has opened up their data to the public, but much of it is weeks old and conflicts with other data being conducted by research institutions. You can read more in Fedscoop.

How much privacy should we give up to defeat COVID-19?

Finally, Privacy concerns stemming from the use of mobility data to combat the novel coronavirus has opened up a passionate debate around the precedent policymakers are setting regarding the use of private data. Google and Apple are working together on technology intended to facilitate contact tracing so infected individuals and everyone they encountered in person can be notified and told to stay home. But not only will this require over a hundred thousand employees to carry out, it also would rely on mobility data, including Bluetooth data. We've linked to an interview with Berkman Center Executive Director Urs Gasser in which he explains some of the ways mobility data can be used to combat coronavirus and what the privacy implications are.

Jessica Fulton (@JessicaJFulton) is the Vice President at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies where she engages in research and analysis to identify policies that advance the socioeconomic status of the Black community. She also manages the Joint Center's Policy Incubator. Prior to joining the Joint Center, she served as External Relations Director at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. She has also held positions at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute and the Chicago Urban League. Jessica is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and serves as Board Chair of The Black Swan Academy. Jessica earned a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of Chicago and a Master's Degree in Economic Policy Analysis from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at Depaul University.

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Domestic violence rises worldwide with COVID-19 lockdowns

The New York Times reports that domestic violence cases are rising around the world, citing data provided by domestic violence hotlines, which have seen an uptick of reports over the last month. Rihanna and Twitter's Jack Dorsey have stepped in, though, by contributing a combined $4.2 million to a new effort to address domestic abuse. Jack Dorsey also announced this week that he'll be contributing $1 billion of his own money to the coronavirus fight.

Coronavirus hampers public transportation

Axios reported this week that public transportation systems are struggling to hold on as coronavirus lockdowns and a rise in coronavirus cases among transit employees, have all but crippled transit systems across the country--causing massive losses in revenue—to the tune of some $38 billion combined. The transit crisis threatens essential workers in particular, many of which are people ofc color.

Apple/Google launch corona virus tracking system

Apple and Google have joined forces to launch a system that uses Bluetooth to track the spread of coronavirus. The companies plan to share the data with government and health agencies. But the tracking would be opt-in only and only public health officials would be permitted to use the data. The technology works not by tracking location data, but by tracking individuals to better determine how the disease travels from person to person.

Ars Technica: Verizon is refusing to offer DSL to low-income users

Ars Technica reports that while Comcast has the best program for low income consumers during the coronavirus pandemic, Verizon, Charter and other carriers are coming up short. While Verizon is offering steeply discounted internet service, it's only available to FiOS subscribers, and not consumers who use DSL. Verizon says its DSL service is too slow, since its making its discounted service available to Lifeline consumers only, and that its DSL service doesn't meet the FCC's minimum speed requirement. The availability of high speed internet service around the country is inconsistent, with different regions having more access than others, which highlights discriminatory redlining.

Landlord app flags delinquent tenants during COVID-19

Naborly, an app that helps landlords screen tenant applicants, is engaging in some curious tactics during this uncertain time of mass unemployment. As the number of unemployment claims has soared in recent weeks, the company has been flagging tenants who haven't paid rent since April 1st.

North Carolina is looking into expanding its online voting system

The state of North Carolina is looking to set up and improve its online voting system, to allow voters to cast their ballots without leaving home. Activists are concerned about privacy violations and the potential for hacks and voter suppression.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks joined Joe Miller to discuss the communications priorities his office is focused on amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Geoffrey Starks (@geoffreystarks) was nominated to serve as a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission by the President and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on January 2, 2019. He was sworn into office on January 30, 2019.

Previously, Commissioner Starks served as Assistant Bureau Chief in the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, Senior Counsel in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he received the Attorney General Award for Exceptional Service—the highest award a DOJ employee can receive. Prior to his entry into federal public service, Commissioner Starks was an attorney at the law firm Williams & Connolly, clerked for the Honorable Judge Duane Benton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, served as a legislative staffer in the Illinois State Senate, and worked as a financial analyst.

Commissioner Starks is a native of Kansas and was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Commissioner Starks earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College with high honors and a law degree from Yale Law School. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Lauren, and their two children.

Starks, G. (2020). To Fight Coronavirus, Millions More Americans Need Internet Access. The New York Times available at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/opinion/internet-broadband-coronavirus.html.

Miriam's Kitchen

Larkin Street Youth Services Center

Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications (FCC)

Zoom under fire for privacy breaches

Zoom, which has been the darling of remote workers in recent weeks, is under fire for privacy violations. A Zoom user in California sued the company, claiming it improperly shared their data with Facebook. Also, So-called Zoom-bombers have been interrupting meetings breaching Zoom's security systems. In one incident, black students at the University of Texas at Austin were conducting a meeting on the platform, only to be interrupted by someone making racial slurs. The FBI has reported "Zoombombing" incidents nationwide and New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote to Zoom leadership requesting a faster response to these and other security breaches.

Remote learning challenges special education students and those without internet

School systems across the country have launched remote learning platforms for their students in response to coronavirus-related school closures. But remote learning poses unique challenges for those without internet access at home. And the $2 trillion stimulus empowered Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to cut funding and support for accommodations for special education students.

NY State Court of Appeals: Postmates workers are entitled to unemployment benefits

The New York Court of Appeals, the State of New York's highest court, has ruled that Postmates delivery workers are entitled to receive unemployment insurance benefits. The decision has implications for gig workers throughout New York, including Uber and Lyft drivers. New York State Attorney General Letitia James applauded the decision.

How much access to data should the government have to respond to COVID-19

Multiple reports found last week that federal officials are prying into cellphone tracking data to assess how the coronavirus is spreading. Advocates argue that data collection is necessary, but guardrails should be established to ensure that federal officials don't use the data as a backdoor to conduct warrantless surveillance, which they have been angling to do for some time.

Tech companies struggle to keep up with more sophisticated tactics to undermine elections

Tech companies are scrambling to respond to ever-evolving risks to the electoral system. The New York Times reports that a number of tactics that Facebook, Twitter, and Google began implementing to defend against misinformation online, are being tested by politicians themselves, with Michael Bloomberg's campaign investing directly in Instagram meme accounts promoting his campaign, for example. The companies spent billions to deal with threats happening in plain sight, the most well-known examples being those conducted by Russia with the assistance of Cambridge Analytica and prominent Republicans. But the stealthier approaches taken by bad actors 4 years later underscores the need to invest even more resources to address the newest attacks.

FCC approves $300 million telehealth initiative

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a $300 million telehealth initiative designed to ensure that folks in remote areas can access telehealth applications while they're stuck at home. But the funding is directed toward providers themselves. And most grants will be for less than $1 million. Part of the money will also be used to address remote access issues that have plagued the country for decades.

DC District Court: Journalists and investigators can legally probe sites for algorithmic bias

The US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled last week that journalists and others are free to investigate platforms for signs of algorithmic bias, even if it means submitting false information to the site that would violate the site's terms of service. The American Civil Liberties Union brought the pre-enforcement lawsuit on behalf of two Northeastern University computer science professors, to prevent the Department of Justice from attempting to use the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to prevent investigators from using evasive tactics to assess the extent to which a platform engages in algorithmic bias. The Department of Justice argued that such violations would violate a platform's First Amendment Rights. But the decision turned on whether the site had set up adequate permissions such that an investigator, scholar, or journalist could be found to have exceeded the granted permission level. The Court found that breaching terms of service agreements doesn't rise to the high level of permission granted by, say, an authentication gate, which adds another level of permission by requiring a password.

Ashkhen Kazaryan (@Ashkhen) is the Director of Civil Liberties at TechFreedom. She manages and develops policy projects on free speech, artificial intelligence, surveillance reform and sharing economy. Ashkhen also handles outreach and coalition building for the organization. Ashkhen is an Internet Law and Policy Fellow and an expert at the Federalist Society's Emerging Technology Working Group, part of the Regulatory Transparency Project. Ashkhen received her Specialist in Law degree summa cum laude from Lomonosov MSU in 2012, Masters of Law Degree from Yale Law School and is completing her PhD in Law at the Law School of Lomonosov Moscow State University (thesis on Legal Regulation of Art Markets). At Yale Law she served as an Articles Editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, Senior Editor of the Yale Law and Policy Review and Editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Technology while also being Co-Chair of the Public Interest Fellowship. Ashkhen worked as the leading legal analyst at the High Intellectual Property Court, drafting decisions of the Presidium of the Court, creating precedents, including on information intermediaries and use of trademarks. In 2013-2014 she was a Fox Fellow at Yale. She is a proud supporter of New England Patriots and Broadway musical enthusiast.

TechFreedom

Amidst COVID-19 epidemic, carriers challenged to balance network demands against providing needed access

With millions of Americans now either working remotely or using the internet while they're unemployed, the nation's Internet Service Providers – or should I say, their workers—are working overtime to keep the networks going and traffic flowing freely online in order to meet demand. Edge providers like Disney and Netflix have cut bandwidth in Europe after regulators there stepped in and, here in the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission has opened additional spectrum for the carriers. The FCC has also relaxed a rule that prohibited carriers from gifting services to E-Rate subsidy recipients like schools and hospitals.

Of specific concern to policymakers are rural residents without access who are unable to take advantage of remote healthcare options via high speed broadband. But the FCC has, up until now, lacked robust data regarding internet access in rural areas -- President Trump signed the Broadband DATA Act earlier this week, which will address some of the data challenges.

But advocates like Matt Wood at Free Press are also pushing for better pricing regulations, an issue that affects both urban and rural areas, he told Gizmodo, as the average price of internet service in the United States surpasses that of countries like Russia, China, and Syria.

Carriers' responses to the increased demand brought on by coronavirus and relative high price of broadband have varied. In New York City, for example, Chalkbeat reported that ISPs that serve the area, including Charter and Optimum, have denied access to families with delinquent accounts, even if their children need an internet connection to participate in remote instruction while their schools are closed.

Verizon, on the other hand, is offering free Fios and wireless service so customers who have been ordered to shelter in place can access entertainment and educational programming. Starting April 1, Verizon will also grant new customers access to its premium tier of movie channels, like HBO and Showtime, free for 30 days.

Resilience of gig market tested

Turning to the gig market … As you probably already know the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims reached an astonishing 3.3 million last week, the highest weekly unemployment rate ever, by a long shot. Previously, the worst weekly unemployment rate happened in 1982, when weekly jobless claims once hit 695,000 — still well under a million.

But gig workers are being hit particularly hard, such as Uber and Lyft drivers faced with decreased demand for car service. And gig workers overall, who receive fewer employment perks and pay than full-timers working from home, have been laid off and, if they are 1099 independent contractors, aren't able to claim unemployment insurance.

When we look to corporate actors, there are good actors and some not so good. Google, for example, announced that it would extend the contracts of its temporary workforce by 60-days. The company is also investing $800 million in programs to help Small and Mid-sized businesses working to address the COVID-19 epidemic. Uber and Lyft on the other hand, according to the New York Times, have been promoting a California ballot initiative that would undue legislation signed into law there last year which would entitle workers whose work is controlled by their employers, like Uber and Lyft drivers, to qualify as employees, irrespective of whether they are W-2 or 1099 workers. The $2 trillion stimulus bill the president signed into law on Friday extends unemployment benefits to gig workers. However, advocates see this as only a band-aid—once it falls off, then what? Lacking health insurance, once Uber driver reportedly died from COVID-19 after he was exposed to a sick passenger.

Turning to the ISPs, Charter isn't giving bonus pay to workers who expose themselves to the coronavirus when they enter customers' homes. What they are giving them though is a $25 restaurant gift card – no soap to wash their hands before they eat, though. That's in the restaurant bathroom already.

Twitter deletes Federalist post calling for mass coronavirus infection

Twitter deleted a post from the Federalist, the right-wing website, for retweeting a post by a fake dermatologist who'd been advocating for mass exposure to the coronavirus. Twitter also temporarily blocked the account.

FBI warns of fake CDC emails regarding COVID-19

The FBI warned the public about cybercriminals exploiting the coronavirus epidemic by sending fake emails that appear to be coming from the Centers for Disease Control or other healthcare organizations. So be careful to check and double check not just the From field, but also the meta data to determine exactly who the email is coming from before you open it. If you've subscribed to newsletters from healthcare organizations, you can also filter them to a separate folder automatically so that anything appearing to be from them in the regular inbox looks suspicious by default when you're reviewing your messages.

Rutgers' Jeff Lane joined Joe Miller to shed light on "the digital street"—how social media shapes the criminal justice system in Harlem and beyond.

Jeffrey Lane (@TheDigitalStre1) studies communication and technology as it relates to urban life, criminal justice, and social inequalities. He approaches these topics ethnographically by getting to know the same people and situations in person and online. Lane is the author the award-winning The Digital Street (Oxford University Press, 2019), a neighborhood study of social media use in Harlem (NYC) -- the first book about neighborhood street life in the digital age. Lane's research has informed a needs assessment and a strategic plan for juvenile gangs convened by New York's Center for Court Innovation. Lane's previous book, Under the Boards (University of Nebraska Press) focuses on the production of race, masculinity, and popular culture in the basketball industry.

Jeffrey Lane, The Digital Street (2018).

'Palantir and the Police' with George Joseph (Ep. 145)(Opens in a new browser tab)

'The Racial Implications of Florida's School Safety Portal' with Ora Tanner (Ep. 205)(Opens in a new browser tab)

Lawmakers weigh remote education options for students w/out internet access

Lawmakers and educators are considering how to provide internet access to children who don't have it, as the coronavirus pandemic intensifies amidst crippling uncertainty as to when Americans will be able to come out from under house arrest, and when schools will reopen. On the federal level, Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has been underscoring the need for universal access. Democratic Senators Klobuchar, Peters, and Tester urged the FCC in a letter last week to take actions to ensure that parents at least know about the options that are available to them for accessing high speed internet service if they need it.

Federal Communications Commission data indicates that some 21 million Americans do not have access to the internet at home. The Senators noted in their letter that some 12 million children lack access to the internet at home. We here at WashingTECH have been advocating on the local level here in the DC area for stronger partnerships between groups like the National Parent Teachers Association and school districts to develop buddy systems that pair students who lack access with students who have it. Volunteer parents serving as host families could receive a stipend.

Dems propose mail-in voting, not online for coronavirus-era elections

Several Democratic Senators are proposing mail-in ballots ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Under the bill, the National Disaster and Emergency Relief Ballot Act (NDEBA), all voters would be entitled to obtain absentee ballots. The bill also provides for 20 days of early voting in all states. A new Brennan Center study found that maintaining the credibility of the U.S. electoral system during the pandemic, which would include measures outlined in the NDBEA, would cost taxpayers some $2 billion.

Amazon shuts down New York City warehouse over coronavirus

Amazon has shut down its Queens warehouse after an employee tested positive for coronavirus. The shutdown will be temporary but if one goes down, many can go down. And then what? An Amazon spokesperson told the Hill that the employee is under quarantine and that they sent their employees home with full pay. The company also announced that it would stop shipping nonessential items to warehouses and that it plans to hire another 100,000 workers to handle the spike in demand.

Undocumented children increasingly facing judges online

The Associated Press reports that more and more children who were detained at the border and separated from their parents, are not only having to face immigration judges alone, usually without counsel because they're not entitled to it, but now they're going to have to face them through video screens. The AP piece describes 7 children standing "shoulder-to-shoulder" in Houston, talking to a judge located a thousand miles away on a glitchy video link. Nearly 4 thousand children are currently in federal custody. A number of these children crossed the U.S./Mexico border alone.

Elon Musk pledges to provide ventilators to those who need them

Finally, you know there's a ventilator shortage. Well Elon Musk has said his company would produce ventilators in the event of a shortage in hospitals. Just last week, Musk said coronavirus concerns were dumb. So it's good to know he's come to his senses.

A Boston University School of Social Work faculty member since 2017, Rob Eschmann (@robeschmann) is a scholar and teacher whose interests include educational inequality, community violence, racism, social media and youth wellbeing. His research seeks to uncover individual, group and intuitional-level barriers to racial and economic equity—and he pays special attention to the heroic efforts everyday people make to combat those barriers.

For Eschmann, this work is a part of the larger freedom struggle. "The function of racism is to reproduce racial inequality, but in the 21st century the devices of racism are often hidden behind color-neutral laws or friendly interactions," he notes. "Highlighting the mechanisms of racism, therefore, can demonstrate the continuing significance of race, raise consciousness, and promote and strengthen resistance efforts."

His recent publications include "Unmasking Racism: Students of Color and Expressions of Racism in Online Spaces," which appeared in the journal Social Problems in 2019, and "Rethinking Race," a chapter in the book Education & Society (University of California Press, 2019).

In addition to his appointment at BUSSW, Eschmann serves as an affiliated faculty member in the BU College of Arts & Sciences in the Department of Sociology and the African American Studies Program.

Robert D. Eschmann, Unmasking Racism: Students of Color and Expressions of Racism in Online Spaces (Society for the Study of Social Problems, Oxford University Press, 2019).

Facebook and Twitter halt Russian election interference campaign targeting African Americans

Facebook and Twitter announced late Thursday that they had taken down multiple accounts and pages that were in the process of executing Russian interference campaigns targeting African Americans. Unlike during the 2016 election when Russia conducted similar operations from inside Russia, these latest intrusions prove Russia's persistence and evolving sophistication. Russia disguised these latest interference efforts by conducting them from within Africa, namely Nigeria and Ghana, by recruiting operatives there to spread vitriol and suspicion around topics like Black Lives Matter, voting, and police brutality. The Hill reports that Facebook dismantled 49 accounts, 69 pages, and 85 Instagram accounts. Twitter said it removed 71 accounts that purported to be operated from within the United States.

FTC warns Cardi B for not disclosing paid social media ads

The Hill reports that the Federal Trade Commission has warned Cardi B and 10 other celebrities about not disclosing paid ads for their endorsements of things like supposed weight loss teas on their social media channels. The FTC didn't file formal charges against the influencers. However, it has required them to provide a list of actions they plan to take to be more transparent about their sources of funding.

Sen. Kamala Harris calls out Facebook for continued negligence regarding misinformation ahead of the U.S. Census

So an ad ran on Facebook that appeared to be a link to the 2020 U.S. Census. But when users clicked the link, they were redirected to Trump's campaign website. Senator Kamala Harris blasted Facebook in a letter last week for failing to stem the tide of misinformation on the platform, even misinformation that violates its own policies.

Nancy Pelosi also blasted the social media behemoth.

Harris pointed specifically to Facebook's dismissive approach toward recommendations made by civil rights groups to address the effects of Census misinformation on people of color and other marginalized groups who are vulnerable to being undercounted.

Facebook has since removed the ads. But what were the lessons learned back in January when Facebook was forced to remove misleading ads about the coronavirus? Facebook continues to mismanage information that appears on its site and isn't being held accountable in any sort of lasting and effective way. Kamala Harris noted as much when she said the company's response to misinformation about the Census will presage how it responds to the 2020 election. Last month the Atlantic predicted that misinformation will be a defining factor of Trump's re-election campaign. That certainly appears to be the case thus far.

Twitter caught in the middle

Regarding Twitter … First, its CEO Jack Dorsey will stay on for the time being. Prior to the announcement, there had been speculation that activist investment firm Elliot Management would require Dorsey to step down due in part to perceived conflicts of interest because of his role as CEO at both Twitter and Square.

But Twitter was also caught between Republicans and Democrats as it came under pressure to take down or flag a video that Trump retweeted which appeared to depict Joe Biden endorsing Trump's re-election campaign. Twitter ultimately tagged the video as manipulated. But then a couple of days later, the Trump campaign followed up about an ad posted by the Biden campaign which included footage of Trump calling protesters on both sides of the deadly Charlottesville riot, which included far right protesters opposing the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, as "fine people". The Biden ad took that quote and made it appear as though the president was only referring to racist protesters.

Cybercriminals and coronavirus

Finally, a new report from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike finds that cybercriminals, including a group connected to China called PIRATE PANDA, are taking advantage of people's fear and confusion about the coronavirus. The report notes that just like the coronavirus, the attacks are moving East to West, becoming steadily more sophisticated as they progress. The security breaches are designed to cajole unsuspecting users to open email attachments and take other actions consistent with previous criminal operations that malicious hackers have conducted against unsuspecting users.

Bärí A. Williams is an attorney and startup advisor, previously served as Vice President of Legal, Policy, and Business Affairs at All Turtles, an artificial intelligence studio. Her primary practice areas include emerging technology transactions, privacy and data protection, and terms of service. She is the former Head of Business Operations Management for North America at StubHub, where she was responsible for business planning and operations to manage and oversee technical internal and external metrics, product innovation, and partnerships and drive P&L results across the company. Prior to StubHub, Bärí was a senior commercial attorney at Facebook supporting internet.org connectivity efforts, building drones, satellites, and lasers, and supporting the company's supply chain. She also successfully took on the passion project of creating and implementing Facebook's Supplier Diversity Program, launched in October 2016. She has served as an advisor to startups in the enterprise and e-commerce space, including Blavity (and AfroTech), Bandwagon, Owl, and Telepath.

Bärí is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (BA, Mass Communications), St. Mary's College of California (MBA), the University of California, Los Angeles (MA, African-American Studies), and the University of California, Hastings College of Law (JD). She is also a published author with bylines in the New York Times, WIRED, Fortune, and Fast Company. She recently gave congressional testimony on bias in AI in financial services in Feb. 2020. Her book, Diversity in the Workplace: Eye-Opening Interviews to Jumpstart Conversations About Identity, Privilege, and Bias, will be released on March 31.

Human Interest

Bärí Williams, Diversity in the Workplace: Eye-Opening Interviews to Jumpstart Conversations about Identity, Privilege, and Bias (2020)

Bärí A. Williams

Tech responds to coronavirus

Tech giants are responding to coronavirus fears as Amazon reported that an employee contracted the illness.

Facebook has cancelled its annual participation in SXSW. The social media giant has also pledged to give the World Health Organization as many free ads as needed to combat the virus.

And Google has canceled its annual I/O developer conference which was scheduled for May 12th and 14th. Google has also halted international travel for employees.

NYPD to remove innocents' DNA profiles from its database

The New York City Police Department has said that it will remove DNA profiles of individuals who haven't been convicted of any crimes. The New York Times reports that some 82,000 DNA profiles in the NYPD's database belong to non-criminals. NYPD had detained and collected DNA evidence from kids as young as 12. The Times reports that officers once offered a 12-year-old a soda during questioning then collected the boy's DNA from the straw. Many other individuals who were merely questioned, who weren't convicted or in many cases not even arrested, also had their DNA collected. The database will be purged in the coming weeks and, going further, the NYPD will collect DNA from children only in cases involving felonies, sex crimes, gun charges, and hate crimes.

House seeks info from Ring on surveillance

Raja Krishnamoorthi, the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy wrote Amazon VP of Public Policy Brian Huseman requesting extensive information regarding its home security subsidiary Ring's partnerships with law enforcement to surveil communities with Ring's footage. Back in August, Ring began disclosing the police departments it has been working with which, as of today, includes some 967 police departments nationwide. In the DC area, participating police departments include Takoma Park, Bladensburg, Seat Pleasant, Prince George's in Maryland, and, in Virginia, Alexandria's Police Department is working with Ring.

Judge: Instacart cannot misclassify workers as independent contractors

A San Diego judge has found that Instacart cannot misclassify workers as independent contractors. In granting a preliminary injunction against Instacart, the judge ruled to enforce the new AB5 law which seeks to ensure that gig workers are classified as employees in order to access benefits and have the right to form a union. NBC News has more.

Democrats split on cybersecurity

The Hill reports that Democrats are split on what to do about reauthorizing the USA Freedom Act, the cybersecurity bill put in place following Edward Snowden's revelation that the National Security Agency was storing millions of Americans' phone numbers. Adam Schiff and Jerrold Nadler are spearheading efforts to reauthorize the bill while more liberal Democrats, including Zoe Lofgren, are seeking more privacy protections. Many of Schiff's allies during the impeachment hearing are now opposing his efforts to reauthorize the cyber bill and, interestingly, the White House has also weighed in saying the President, including Attorney General Barr, wants the full bill reauthorized without changes. The disputed changes involve the extent to which there should be more transparency in how the FISA court operates with regard to surveillance.

Bio

Gary Radburn (@VRGaryatDell) is the Director of VR/AR solutions at Dell. As part of this role, he works closely with Dell customers on VR/AR deployments and help to establish Dell's VR Centers of Excellence with locations around the world for businesses and consumers to experience and learn more about VR in the real world. He has held various roles across the technology industry over the last three decades, ranging from Engineering to Sales & Marketing, and has experience across all aspects of designing products and solutions and bringing them to market.

Resources

Radburn, G. (2018). Real Innovators Use VR for Social Good. [Blog] Direct@Dell. [Accessed 26 Feb. 2020].

News Roundup

Washington Post report on Facebook/GOP coordination doesn't bode well for policy pros of color

A Washington Post report by Craig Timberg doesn't bode well for lawyers of color and Democrats seeking to work in Facebook's policy office here in Washington. According to anonymous sources who contributed to the story, GOP operative Joel Kaplan, who dated Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg when they attended Harvard together, has no intention anytime soon of adding Democrats to his policy team. Only Republicans are driving Facebook's policymaking efforts, often acceding to Trump administration demands by enacting policies like the ban on removing political ads from the platform in which politicians make false statements. Last year civil rights leaders met with Mark Zuckerberg at his home in Palo Alto in an attempt to persuade him to remove such ads – he refused, likely after taking Kaplan's advice into account. So the disproportionate power dynamic at Facebook is just as out of whack as compared to its user base, as Congress is to the populace: Seventy-eight percent of lawmakers in Congress are white even though whites comprise only 61% of the total U.S. population. So, is Facebook using politics as a pretense for racial and gender discrimination? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe Democratic women and people of color who are listening should apply for jobs in Facebook's policy shop and, when they don't get them, sue them and see what happens.

Following resistance, UCLA bans campus-wide facial recognition

The University of California at Los Angeles has banned the use of facial recognition surveillance on campus, Fight for the Future reported on Medium last week. The decision came amidst growing backlash against the 45,000 student university including a nationwide campaign to prevent the spread of facial recognition across college campuses. Schools like MIT, Harvard, Brown, and Columbia have issued public statements stating that they would not institute a facial recognition program. But UCLA decided to go ahead and see if it could roll out an always-on biometric scanning and identification system anyway, until it ultimately caved to pressure from the UCLA community. Here in DC, GW, and American have stated publicly that they might use facial recognition technology on campus. But the University of Maryland, on the other hand, has said they won't. UVA has also said that it will not implement facial recognition as part of its campus safety program.

Kickstarter workers vote to unionize

Engineers and other white-collar workers at Kickstarter have voted to form a union, according to the New York Times, becoming one of the first tech companies to do so. The vote was by a narrow margin – 46 to 37 – but the decision to unionize has put to rest many months of back-and-forth and tension at the company.

Feds are raiding tech companies for medical records

According to a new investigative report by Thomas Brewster at Forbes, federal law enforcement officials have been raiding tech companies to obtain their users' medical records data. And this isn't just DNA data, either -- We're all too familiar with the risks associated with giving our DNA data to companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com. But this is about law enforcement obtaining warrants to access your medical history, including any medications you're taking, by showing the warrant to a company called DrChrono, which specializes in warehousing this information online.

Seattle city Councilwoman Kshama Sawant wants to tax Amazon to address housing shortages

The Guardian reports that Seattle city Councilwoman Kshama Sawant introduced a bill last week that would impose a 1.7% payroll tax on Amazon, and other companies among Seattle's top 3%, generating up to a as much as $300 million per year. Three-quarters of the proceeds from the fund would go towards building affordable, publicly-owned homes. The remaining 25% would go to convert homes from using oil and gas, to clean electric energy.

Target's delivery app Shipt is hostile towards employees

According to a new report in Motherboard – Shipt - Target's delivery app – is retaliating against employees for posting comments or criticisms about Shipt's labor practices. One Shipt employee reported publicly that, after Shipt tweaked its algorithm, she went from earning $200 per week to $0-25 per week. Shipt then deactivated her account. Some employee accounts have been deactivated for no apparent reason, leaving employees unaware of and on pins and needles wondering when the next shoe will drop.

Northeastern University Study: No bias in YouTube Comment Moderation

Ars Technica reports that a Northeastern University study has concluded that there is no apparent political bias in content moderation on YouTube. For the last several years, Republicans including Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, have claimed that platforms like YouTube are biased against conservative viewpoints. But after reviewing some 84,068 comments on 268 YouTube videos, the researchers found that the moderation of hate speech by right-leaning commenters versus that of left-leaning commenters was about the same.

John Godfrey (@SamsungDC) is Senior Vice President of Public Policy for Samsung Electronics America. Based in Washington, D.C., he leads Samsung's public policy team in engagement with government and industry, focusing on communications policy, digital television, wireless spectrum, health care, environment, broadband, cybersecurity, privacy and other areas. An active participant in the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), Godfrey is a member and past chair of the CTA Foundation's Board of Trustees and CTA's Video Division Board, among other groups. He is also a past chairman of the Board of Directors of the Advanced Television Systems Committee, the standards developing organization for digital television broadcasting. Prior to joining Samsung in 2006, Godfrey was with Pioneer North America, Sony Electronics, the Information Technology Industry Council, the National Research Council, and SRI International. Godfrey has a Master's degree in Telecommunications from George Washington University, a Master's degree in East Asian Studies from Stanford University, and a Bachelor's degree in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. He and his wife, artist Ellen Hill, have two sons and live in Rockville, Maryland.

5G is Here (Samsung, 2020)

DOJ Charges Chinese Military Officials for Equifax Hack

The Department of Justice indicted 4 Chinese People's Liberation Army officials on Monday, charging them with 9 counts for the 2017 Equifax hack that led to the theft and sale of some 145 million Americans' data. US Attorney General William Barr noted that this represents nearly half of the American population. The indictment includes charges for stealing trade secrets.

Ancestry.com refuses warrant for member data

DNA platform Ancestry.com refused to honor valid arrest warrants in 8 out of 9 cases last year, according to the company's 2019 transparency report. Competitor 23andMe has also promised to keep its DNA database private. Ancestry.com's DNA database is estimated to contain the DNA information of some 16 million people.

Federal Court approves T-Mobiler/Sprint merger

The US District Court of the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, approved the $26.5 billion T-Mobile/Sprint merger last week, over the objection of 15 Attorneys General, including California AG Xavier Becerra and NY AG Letitia James. Presiding Judge Victor Romero wrote that the merger is not likely to lessen competition. The merged company is required to divest resources to satellite provider Dish ensure Dish becomes a viable competitor.

Amazon removes books written by Nazis

Finally, Amazon has removed 2 books written by authors David Duke, who is a former KKK Grand Wizard, and George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi party. Some booksellers say that Amazon's policies are opaque and have vocalized opposition to the removal of these titles.

'How Data Mapping Can Save Moms' Lives' with Licy Do Canto (Ep. 218)

As Managing Director of BCW Healthcare in the firm's Public Affairs and Crisis practice, Licy Do Canto (@LicyMD) leads policy and public affairs strategy for the firm's healthcare clients in North America across public and corporate affairs, government relations, communications and reputation management on a diverse and broad range of healthcare issues. He also oversees the BCW Healthcare Team in Washington, D.C.

An expert in health and healthcare policy, with twenty five years of experience at the national, state and local levels across the nonprofit, philanthropic, corporate and government sectors, Licy is an accomplished, values-driven leader with unparalleled experience in developing and leading integrated public affairs campaigns combining strategic communications, public relations, political and legislative initiatives, policy, coalition building, grassroots/grasstops efforts and direct advocacy.

Before joining BCW, Licy built and lead a nationally recognized minority owned strategic public affairs and communications firm, served as Health Practice Chair and Principal at The Raben Group, was the Chief Executive Officer of The AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families, and managed and helped set the leadership direction for strategic policy, communications and advocacy investments in executive and senior government affairs roles for the American Cancer Society and the nation's Community Health Centers.

Before joining the private sector, Licy served as health policy advisor to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and served in several stints in the Office of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. During his extensive tenure in Washington, D.C., Licy has played a leading role in efforts to draft, shape and enact many pieces of legislation and policy affecting public health, health care safety net and the U.S. health care system.

Licy is a graduate of Duke University and holds a certificate in public health leadership from the University of North Chapel Hill—School of Public Health and Kenan Flagler Business School, and is the recipient of multiple industry awards and citations for his leadership, policy and public affairs acumen, including being named to The Hill Newspaper list of most influential leaders in Washington, D.C. consecutively over the last ten years.

BCW Global

S.3152 – Data Mapping to Save Moms' Lives Act

Zuckerberg says new content policies will 'piss off a lot of people'

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg continues his crusade to be the standard-bearer of free speech even if his company's policies "piss off a lot of people". Zuckerberg told CNN that he plans to draw a line in the sand when it comes to censorship as he thinks Facebook is taking on too much of that responsibility. He says that the company will continue to remove the most harmful content and also discussed plans to ramp up encryption on Facebook's messaging service. Zuckerberg has remained steadfast in maintaining Facebook's policy of leaving up false statements by politicians in their ads.

Study: Using pre-trial risk assessment tools to book criminal defendants increases the likelihood they'll considered a flight risk

Courts routinely use pre-trial assessment tools to determine the likelihood that a defendant will flee if they're released on bail. The higher the flight risk, the more pre-trial supervision the court will impose. The data these tools rely on includes data on past arrests. But a new study from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group and San Francisco Public Defenders Office notes that many of those arrests lead to acquittals. But despite the acquittals, the study found, courts recommended a higher level of pre-trial supervision in 27% of cases that include prior arrest data in their pre-trial assessment tools.

ACLU: Puerto Rico's online voting plan is too risky

The American Civil Liberties Union is pushing back against legislation in Puerto Rico that aims to bring voting fully online by 2028. The ACLU is asking Puerto Rico's Governor Wanda Vázquez to veto the bill after it passes the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, which is expected to happen this week. Lawyers for the century-old advocacy organization argue that the plan is extremely susceptible to hacks and poses significant cybersecurity risks that threaten to undermine Puerto Ricans' trust in the government.

House Oversight Committee seeks answers from dating apps on kids' privacy

The House Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy launched an investigation into dating platforms' failure to prevent underage users from signing up. Members of the subcommittee wrote Bumble, Grindr, The Meet Group, the Match Group, Tinder, and OkCupid seeking documents pertaining to any policies they have in place to prevent underage users pretending that they're over 18 and sex offenders from lurking on the platforms. The documents are due to the subcommittee on February 13.

Health records app pushed opioids

Bloomberg reports that in the midst of the opioid crisis, between 2016 and 2019, electronic health records company Practice Fusion pushed alerts encouraging opioid treatment on 230 million separate occasions. A Vermont federal court says the company has agreed to pay $145 million in civil and criminal damages.