Tech Policy Leaders

TikTok reportedly records every one of your keystrokes

So security researcher Felix Krause says TikTok is running JavaScript on other sites you visit in the iOS browser, and collecting your credit card information and keystrokes. And a TikTok spokesperson acknowledged the existence of the script, but said the Chinese based subsidiary of Bytedance only uses it for debugging, troubleshooting and performance monitoring … performance monitoring, like monitoring your performance, I suppose.

We're supposed to believe that TikTok is the only company that isn't doing everything it can to find ways to collect data on the low. Ok.

The Federal Trade Commission released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking this week seeking public comment on how it should regulate commercial data collection practices.

Biden is being secretive about how the Trump-era visa data collection policy works

In 2019 the Trump administration began implementing a new policy requiring all visa applicants to submit their social media profiles to the State Department. When President Biden took office, he announced he'd review the policy. Many privacy advocates hoped the president would end the practice. But, instead, the administration is being cagey about releasing what its review of the policy revealed. The administration actually refused to release the information as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the Knight Foundation filed against the administration back in April.

Immigration advocates sue Lexis Nexis for selling immigration data to ICE

Immigration advocates sued Lexis-Nexis last week for selling non-public immigration information to law enforcement officials, such as correctional bookings, vehicle collision records, and license plate reader data. Apparently, Lexis also has a $22 million contract with ICE.

Representatives Jerrold Nadler & Bennie Thompson responded in a letter to ICE and six other agencies including the DOJ, Homeland, Customs, ICE, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, requesting information about how these agencies work with companies like Lexis Nexis to obtain non-public personal data.

FTC may sue adtech companies that can track women seeking abortions

The Washington Post reports that the Federal Trade Commission is planning to sue a company called Kochava that allows its institutional customers to license health data. That data would also include information about women seeking abortions. It's not clear, however, whether the FTC has the expertise on staff or the budget to bring the lawsuit. Kochava has reportedly changed its data collection practices but you can never be too careful these days.

'Bossware' is out of control

The New York Times reported on the use of so-called bossware by employers who want to keep closer and closer tabs on their employees. It's truly a dystopian nightmare, with companies like Amazon, UPS, Kroger tracking things like bathroom breaks and idle time. The Times reports that 8 of the 10 largest employers in the U.S. use some kind of tracking or monitoring to keep a watchful eye on their employees. If workers pause too long, don't accumulate enough points, or aren't at their workstations, folks are losing pay and even jobs. And we're not just talking about factory workers. Firms like UnitedHealthcare reportedly dock therapists for time spent discussing clients with colleagues.

What are your experiences with bossware? You can reach us at techpolicypodcast.org. Click the mic on the lower-right corner of your screen. We won't sell your data to anyone.

Social media companies prepare for midterm election chaos

As social media companies come under scrutiny ahead of the midterm elections, which are less than 90 days away, TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny as its popularity has skyrocketed since 2018. The company bans paid political ads, but influencers can still get perks, like event invites and other benefits for supporting political candidates, and a TikTok spokesperson told the Verge that TikTok's ban of paid political ads doesn't cover these types of non-cash arrangements.

That's it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.

Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. Ciao.

The digital divide is the gap between those who have access to digital technologies and resources and those who do not.

If you asked most people what the digital divide was, they would probably assume it's a reference to Internet access or computer usage. While these are both accurate representations of the digital divide, there's more to it than that. The digital divide is actually a social divide that exists between individuals based on their access to technology and its benefits. In other words, it's the disparity in technological knowledge, skills, and usage among different social groups.

One of the areas in which this divide has massive implications is privacy. For example, state governments that surveil women who are seeking abortions can discourage them from going online and taking advantage of all of the benefits that technology has to offer for entrepreneurship, education, and remote work.

Bio

Joi O. Chaney is a domestic legal policy expert, a political strategist, and currently the Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President, Policy and Advocacy at the National Urban League. The Washington Bureau represents the League before the Legislative and Executive Branches, leads policy discussions that advance economic and social equality for the communities we serve, and engages the Urban League movement in advocacy campaigns aimed at achieving policy wins.

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Dr. Alisa Valentin

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Dr. Alisa Valentin recently joined the National Urban League as the Senior Director of the Technology and Telecommunications Policy where she works on a broad range of issues including broadband, privacy, and media diversity. Alisa was previously the Special Advisor to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks where she advised the Commissioner on broadband access and adoption, prison phone justice, and future of work policies.

Joi Chaney

Joi O. Chaney is a domestic legal policy expert, a political strategist, and currently the Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President, Policy and Advocacy at the National Urban League. The Washington Bureau represents the League before the Legislative and Executive Branches, leads policy discussions that advance economic and social equality for the communities we serve, and engages the Urban League movement in advocacy campaigns aimed at achieving policy wins.

Resources

National Urban League Washington Bureau

State of Black America Podcast

Condé Nast (Wired), The US Has a Historic Opportunity to Bridge the Digital Dividec(2022), https://www.wired.com/story/digital-divide-broadband-fcc/ (last visited Aug 8, 2022).

Competing privacy bills may slow down kids' protection online

Three competing privacy bills have made negotiations on the Hill even more difficult as the Senate and House have 3 different versions – two of which focus specifically on creating stronger protections for kids online.

The one in the House that passed late last month is an overarching federal privacy framework that some legislators have objected to, particularly Maria Cantwell, the Democratic Senator from Washington State, who is concerned about a forced arbitration provision in the bill that would limit you from suing a company that violates your privacy.

Some lawmakers have also raised concerns about the fact that the federal privacy bill may weaken the privacy legislation that several states have passed for you if you live in California, Virginia, Colorado. Connecticut, or Utah.

But in addition to the House bill, we have two Senate bills that will almost certainly complicate negotiations – both of which focus specifically on your kids' privacy. Democrat Richard Blumental and Republican Marsha Blackburn's Kids Online Safety Act would give more control to parents, allow kids to opt-out of certain data practices, and impose requirements on companies to vet their products for potential harms to children.

The second Senate bill to make it out of committee – sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey and Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy – would ban companies from collecting children's data up to age 16, raising it from 13, which is the current minimum age imposed by the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection.

So lawmakers will need to parse through all three bills now and come up with some workable way forward. There's plenty of analysis in the Washington Post if you want to take a deep dive.

And kids really are at risk – not just by the tech companies, but also the people we entrust them to every single day – their schools

The Social Media Victims Law Center brought 2 lawsuits in last week against Meta, in the Northern District of California, on behalf of 2 Kentucky families who allege that Meta, through Instagram has created a "perfect storm of addiction, social comparison, and exposure to incredibly harmful content and product features," that has given their kids eating disorders. Reuters previously reported that Meta is faced with 9 other lawsuits alleging that the company harms children's mental health.

And then when it comes to schools – Pia Ceres over at Wired reports on an uptick in the surveillance of students by their teachers and the police – teachers can actually monitor what kids are doing on their laptops.

Kids should be a priority. As a parent – I simply don't care as much about having a private right of action if someone violates my privacy – I mean it's a good thing to have, but it's not a must have. And we should have it. We shouldn't be trapped into arbitration, so I'm not really sure why arbitration is even on the table – we see what arbitration has done in the context of employment at these companies, severely limiting their remedies when they discriminate against their employees. So why would we do the same thing in the context of privacy?

But it's not a priority. Our kids are the priority. And I don't know why we have all of these competing bills when the focus should be on the kids who clearly aren't safe and secure in their schools, either physically or online.

Facebook still letting hate speech slip through

Facebook still lets hate speech slip through, though. It would be great to get legislation for that. But in the U.S. somehow we know what porn is when we see it, but we purport to not know what hate speech is. Anyway. I guess porn flourishes so, so should hate speech? Not really – I really don't see some mass shooter posting all kinds of hateful garbage on 4chan before he goes on a shooting rampage, as a victimless form of speech – just like some kinds of porn aren't victimless.

But Facebook has apparently learned nothing since Frances Haugen blew the whistle last year. AP reports that in its 3rd study of Facebook's content moderation practices, London-based Global Witness finds that Facebook is letting ads go up in Nigeria, in both English and Swahili, that compare people to donkeys, talk about rape … just really disgusting stuff that one would think the company would be equipped by now to take down.

But the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to block Meta's expansion into Virtual Reality through its acquisition of Within, a move the FTC says would pave the way for Meta to own the entire metaverse. Maybe that's why Facebook changed its name to Meta??? What a dumb name change – their whole strategy laid bare before it even got regulatory approval.

Equifax sued for shady credit scoring

Finally, here's something folks should have a private right of action for – incorrect credit scores. Equifax screwed up credit reports by more than 20 points, causing one of the class action plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit to accept a car loan under which she has to pay $540/month since she couldn't get the loan she should have gotten, which would have had her paying about $350/month. Equifax says it was a "coding error." Yeah right. I'm sure the Fed hiking up interest rates had absolutely nothing to do with that – sure Equifax.

That's it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.

Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. Ciao.

When it comes to the intersection of technology and law, our minds go straight to challenges that feature prominently in the media, such as privacy in the digital age, the ethics of artificial intelligence, or how blockchain will change everything. But the Federal Communications Commission continues to play an outsize role in determining the parameters around how telecommunications companies provide service in a way that takes into consideration the interests of a wide variety of consumers, corporations, and elected officials. Belinda Nixon joined Public Knowledges Antoine Prince Albert III to shed light.

Bio

Belinda Nixon is a Partner in the Technology Transactions and Privacy Law practice at Perkins Coie, where she provides strategic legal counsel on complex transactional and regulatory issues for communications and technology companies. With over 20 years of experience at the Federal Communications Commission, Belinda Nixon brings both a deep background in telecommunications and regulatory issues to counseling clients on infrastructure and broadband deployments, mergers, and enforcement.

LinkedIn

Perkins Coie

Resources

Supreme Court Decision Portends Greater Judicial Scrutiny of FCC, Perkins Coie (2022), https://www.perkinscoie.com/en/news-insights/supreme-court-decision-portends-greater-judicial-scrutiny-of-fcc-.html (last visited Aug 1, 2022).

FCC Requires Gateway Providers to Combat Foreign-Based Robocalls, Perkins Coie (2022), https://www.perkinscoie.com/en/news-insights/fcc-requires-gateway-providers-to-combat-foreign-based-robocalls.html (last visited Aug 1, 2022).

Veda Cruz: Play to Earn Games: What You Need to Know About the Law

The video game industry has grown rapidly over the last several years. With new technology and more affordable equipment, more people than ever are interested in playing video games as a hobby. The booming popularity of "play to earn" games – also known as user incentive programs – has only accelerated this trend. These programs incentivize gamers to play specific video games by rewarding them with virtual or physical rewards based on how much time they spend playing, their skill level, or other measurable actions. However, as with any new trend involving money, there are risks associated with these programs. If you play these games, there are some things you need to know about the law.

Veda Cruz

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Veda Cruz is an attorney who serves as in-house counsel at Gearbox Entertainment, developer of the Borderlands games. She received her law degree and MBA simultaneously at the University of Miami where she served as President of UM's Intellectual Property Law Society as well as a venture consultant for entrepreneurs looking to realize their start-up ideas. She now resides in Texas, where she enjoys playing games, reading books, practicing martial arts, or riding around town on her motorcycle.

VEDA Cruz

VEDA Cruz

Resources

Gearbox Software

Gregory Boyd, Video Game Law: Everything you need to know about Legal and Business Issues in the Game Industry Routledge & CRC Press (2022), https://www.routledge.com/Video-Game-Law-Everything-you-need-to-know-about-Legal-and-Business-Issues/Boyd-Pyne-Kane/p/book/9781138058491 (last visited Jul 25, 2022).

Hey everybody, I'm Joe Miller and here's what's going on in the world of online safety and free speech this week.

Amazon's $3.9bn One Medical bid Washington Post. Privacy experts worry about how Amazon will use healthcare data if the acquisition goes through – a deal that's subject to Federal Trade Commission approval. The agency has already launched an aggressive campaign to rein in Amazon's market power.

YouTube to ban abortion misinformation

Clare Duffy at CNN Business reported that YouTube will stop allowing its users to post information on alternative ways to seek abortions, as well as misinformation regarding abortions. The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, and trepidation about potentially facilitating abortions in violation of individual state laws prohibitting it.

Car warranty calls now banned: FCC order

The annoying calls you've been getting about your auto warranty are now illegal. Hopefully, a new order the FCC dropped on Thursday will make them stop for good. The order requires carriers to prevent certain companies that make the bulk of these calls from being able to reach you. These warranty calls made up the number one complaint at the Commission. Brian Fung has the story at CNN.

TikTok parent kicks up lobbying spending

So if you didn't know already, TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, Bytedance, which you should worry about since there's no way of knowing how Bytedance shares that data with the Chinese government. And that may be your kids' data. Lauren Feiner writes over at CNBC that Bytedance has kicked up its Washington lobbying efforts by some 130 percent, bringing its spending to over $2 million in the last quarter alone. The company opposes bipartisan antitrust and privacy bills gaining traction on Capitol Hill.

Uber to pay $2 million for violating disabled users rights

Finally, Itzel Luna reports for the LA Times that, in a settlement with the Justice Department, Uber will pay $2 million to disabled users it screwed over by charging them wait time fees. The company applied the surcharge for keeping drivers waiting for more than 2 minutes.

That's it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.

Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. Ciao.

Kathy Baxter: The Ethics of AI

Consumers are between a rock and a hard place. We expect the companies we distrust to be honest about their data collection practices. Ninety percent of consumers think companies should improve the world. According to many of us, it's not happening. Saleforce's Kathy Baxter and her colleague Yoav Schlesinger developed a maturity model which depends on managers being open to feedback from their subordinates about AI bias. With trust as a starting point, ethics can flow naturally.

Kathy Baxter

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Bio

As an Architect of Ethical AI Practice at Salesforce, Kathy develops research-informed best practices to educate Salesforce employees, customers, and the industry on the development of responsible AI. She collaborates and partners with external AI and ethics experts to continuously evolve Salesforce policies, practices, and products. Prior to Salesforce, she worked at Google, eBay, and Oracle in User Experience Research. She received her MS in Engineering Psychology and BS in Applied Psychology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. The second edition of her book, "Understanding your users," was published in May 2015. You can read about her current research at einstein.ai/ethics.

Resources

Kathy's work at https://www.einstein.ai/ethics

Kelly Caine, Kathy Baxter & Catherine Courage, Understanding Your Users: A Practical Guide to User Research Methods (Interactive Technologies) (2 ed. 2022).

Kathy Baxter, AI Ethics Maturity Model (2022), https://www.salesforceairesearch.com/static/ethics/EthicalAIMaturityModel.pdf

(last visited Jul 18, 2022).

Singapore launches world's first AI testing framework and toolkit to promote transparency; Invites companies to pilot and contribute to international standards development, INFOCOMM Media Development Authority (2022), https://www.imda.gov.sg/news-and-events/Media-Room/Media-Releases/2022/Singapore-launches-worlds-first-AI-testing-framework-and-toolkit-to-promote-transparency-Invites-companies-to-pilot-and-contribute-to-international-standards-development(last visited Jul 18, 2022).

Hey everybody, I'm Joe Miller and here's what's going on in the world of online safety and free speech this week.

Denver case may let cops check search keywords

If a crime happens, should police be able to get a warrant that requires Google to release data on who used particular search terms? That question is at issue in a Denver criminal trial against a teen defendant who allegedly killed 5 Sengalese immigrants by setting fire to their home. Denver police nabbed the suspect using a technique called a "reverse keyword search," under which authorities, before they even have a suspect, obtain relevant search data from search engines before the crime took place. Civil rights advocates are concerned that allowing the cops to obtain search data on arson could potentially open the floodgates for searches related to abortion – such as "Planned Parenthood" – to become fair game for law enforement officials.

But the Justice Department announced the formation of a Reproductive Task Force, Chaired by FTC Chair Vanita Gupta – a collaboration between the DOJ's Civil Division, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney community, Office of the Solicitor General, Office for Access to Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, Office of Legal Policy, Office of Legislative Affairs, Office of the Associate Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General and Office of the Attorney General. And the House passed two Reproductive Health bills, one of which would enshrine Roe v. Wade in federal law.

Amazon shared Ring footage with police without users' consent

Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey released more information regarding his investigation into Amazon's Ring doorbell/videocam system. According to Markey, the relationship between Ring and the police is pretty tight. Eleven times this year, cops have been able to access Ring doorbell footage without a warrant, through a process called an "emergency circumstance exception." Markey also noted that Ring devices pick up audio from ordinary passersby as well, who aren't suspected of committing a crime.

Senators urge passage of bi-partisan children's technology bill

A bipartisan group of senators that includes Senator Markey, a Democrat, but also Republican Senators Roy Blunt and Ben Sasse urged the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee to bring the Children and Media Research Advancement Act (CAMRA) to the floor for a full Senate vote. The bill recently passed the House and it allocates resources to the National Institutes of Health to support research into the effect of screen time on children's cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional development. Markey indicated in a press release that studies show the average amount of screen time among 10-14 year olds has jumped from 3.8 to 7.7 hours per day since the beginning of the pandemic.

New Arizona law criminalizes recording the police

A new Arizona law criminalizes recording the police from less than 8 feet away, unless the videographer is the one who is being questioned by them. It's now a misdemeanor. And anyone recording the police there within 8 feet must cease recording after the police give a warning.

That's it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.

Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. Ciao.

Payton Croskey and her team investigate the ways in which racial bias and discrimination shape how we are watched, policed and targeted by surveillance technology.

Payton Croskey

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Payton Croskey is a visual artist and tech justice scholar writing, coding and designing a liberatory future for all who refuse to submit to technology's watchful eye. Pursuing a degree in African American Studies and a minor in Computer Science at Princeton, Payton's research uncovers ways of designing digital systems that protect and empower targeted communities.

Resources

www.paytoncroskey.com

Payton Croskey et al., LIBERATORY TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL MARRONAGE — IDA B. WELLS JUST DATA LAB IDA B. WELLS JUST DATA LAB (2022), https://www.thejustdatalab.com/tools-1/liberatory-technology-and-digital-marronage (last visited Jul 11, 2022).

TikTok is under intensifying pressure

TikTok is under intensifying pressure from Congress after Buzzfeed released leaked audio from nine different TikTok employees saying that ByteDance, TikTok's parent company based in China, had access to TikTok user data in the U.S. In a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Kahn, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner and Vice Chair Marco Rubio called for a comprehensive investigation of TikTok's practices, since the Buzzfeed revelation contravenes sworn statements from TikTok's policy lead, Michael Beckerman, back in October, that the company doesn't share user information with ByteDance. The Chinese government holds a stake in ByteDance, and TikTok's statements regarding whether it considers itself a ByteDance subsidiary have been vague, according to several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Parents sue TikTok over little girls' deaths due to 'Blackout Challenge'

The parents of two little girls, ages 8 & 9, are suing TikTok in Los Angeles because their kids died participating in a 'Blackout Challenge' that went viral on the platform, which called on participants to choke themselves until they pass out. The suit claims that TikTok knew or should have known the platform was "addictive" and warned parents the challenge was happening.

Google announced it will delete abortion clinic visits

The Washington Post reported that Google will delete location data showing users' visits to abortion clinics. The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, and concerns that law enforcement officials, including citizens deputized by anti-abortion states to rat out women seeking abortions, will form a stampede to obtain pregnant women's browser and location data. The Post also reports that misinformation remains a concern as shady company's promoting alternative ways to seek abortions have begun to proliferate on the internet.

Apple's new feature to block government spyware

Apple is rolling out a new iPhone feature called "Lockdown Mode" that's designed to block government access to your phone via spyware data. The announcement comes after the recent discovery that Israeli law enforcement officials used the so-called Pegasus spyware to obtain contact information and even live audio.

That's it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.

Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend.