Sponsors of the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV Start) Act (S-1885) will look to attach the bill to a legislation this summer, Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., told us. Meanwhile safety groups continue to warn against a rush to pass America’s first major federal autonomous vehicle legislation.
Karl Herchenroeder
Karl Herchenroeder, Associate Editor, is a technology policy journalist for publications including Communications Daily. Born in Rockville, Maryland, he joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2018. He began his journalism career in 2012 at the Aspen Times in Aspen, Colorado, where he covered city government. After that, he covered the nuclear industry for ExchangeMonitor in Washington. You can follow Herchenroeder on Twitter: @karlherk
The FTC’s recently named Consumer Protection Bureau Director Andrew Smith told us Thursday his new job shouldn’t differ much from the compliance work he did for Equifax and Facebook, though he understands concern from the two Democratic commissioners who voted against his appointment.
The American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies Act (S-1885) is unlikely to get unanimous consent for expedited consideration, but there’s opportunity to attach it to a legislative vehicle this summer, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told us (see 1803230071). The FAA budget bill is one possibility, he said.
Facebook has developed a platform that encourages misuse of user data, and Cambridge Analytica likely improperly supplied data to Russian groups and the Trump campaign (see 1803190056), former Cambridge Analytica Research Director Christopher Wylie told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday during a hearing on data privacy. Cambridge University scholar Aleksandr Kogan, the lead researcher Cambridge Analytica allegedly used to harvest the data, collaborated on physiological profiling campaigns for pro-Russian groups in St. Petersburg and likely allowed access to Facebook data, Wylie said. Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, requested Cambridge Analytica appear at the hearing, but the company declined, citing bankruptcy proceedings (see 1805020042).
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday aimed at modernizing government IT systems. The order focuses on defining roles and authorities of agency chief information officers. The federal government spends about $90 billion annually on IT. Trump "is drawing on the best practices from the private sector and empowering CIOs to lead the technology transformation at their agencies,” White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner told reporters. “This executive order is a critical foundation to delivering a more efficient, effective and accountable government.”
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said the broken music royalty system needs to be fixed, during a hearing Tuesday on the Music Modernization Act (MMA) (S-2823), proposed by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Lawmakers across the board expressed willingness to resolve any remaining issues and move forward with the bill, so artists can be properly compensated.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, asked the FTC to delay an appointment to lead the Consumer Protection Bureau. The lawmakers penned a Monday letter to Chairman Joseph Simons, saying Andrew Smith represented Equifax, Facebook, Uber and other companies that have been accused of “some of the worst abuses of consumers” and is therefore “unable to function as the FTC’s top consumer advocate.” The lawmakers cited a recent New York Times article, saying Smith would likely have to recuse himself from some of the agency’s highest profile cases, including the Facebook privacy breach and the Equifax data breach. Blumenthal told us Tuesday he hadn't received a response from the agency, nor was he given any indication why Simons supported the appointment. The FTC didn’t comment.
Social media platforms are “absolutely not” capable of self-regulating and protecting consumer privacy, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told us before Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing (see 1805100038). Durbin hopes Republicans realize what it will take to properly protect user data because platforms are free to collect sensitive information with little regard for consumer rights.
The Senate Judiciary Committee appears poised to advance a package of music copyright legislation recently passed with unprecedented consensus in the House (see 1805100072, 1804250078 and 1804200052), Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and industry stakeholders told us. Six months ago, sponsors Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., came to Grassley with a stand-alone bill that drew deep skepticism. Despite the addition of two more controversial bills, Grassley said the majority of players remain in support. “I think it’s going to go fairly smooth, and I don’t think you’re going to find a lot of opposition. You’re going to find a lot of people praising" the package, he said.
The White House established a select committee on artificial intelligence under the National Science and Technology Council to advise the president on interagency AI efforts, White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios told about 40 industry representatives, 25 government officials and 10 academics Thursday (see 1805090048). The “most senior” R&D officials will be members, he said. The panel will consider federal partnerships with industry and academia and leverage federal data to promote the national AI ecosystem, he said.