Known as the “Right to Know Act,” the bill was introduced in February, and was lauded by privacy advocates for offering a pathway to greater transparency for consumers. The legislation is designed to update laws aimed at earlier forms of data collection, such as telemarketing, which is a far cry from the detailed data social networking sites such as Facebook are now able to collect on individuals. Under pressure to create value for investors, the online industry has become adept at harvesting information that can reveal a person’s purchasing preferences, financial activities and even sexual orientation. Most online users are aware of some of this technology, such as targeted ads for specific products that might seem to hound them as they navigate through different websites, though they may not be aware of the specific details. Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, who wrote Right to Know, faced formidable opposition. As the Los Angeles Times reports, the legislation was going up against a broad coalition that included the California Chamber of Commerce, Google Inc., Facebook Inc., cable television companies, as well as marketing and data brokers – the sort of middlemen that specialize in combing through vast amounts of personal data and digest them into profit.For its part, Silicon Valley more than doubled spending on lobbying within California, from $8 million in 2005-2006 to $18 million by the 2011-2012 state legislative session. The state is seen by online companies as a benchmark for the rest of the US in terms of privacy and transparency regulations, and thus keeps a close watch on bills moving through the capitol.Along with legislation such as the Right to Know Act, other states are currently introducing online privacy bills, including the contentious“Do Not Track,”which is both a policy as well as actual technology.As the Electronic Frontier Foundation defines Do Not Track, it is an effort to thwart online web tracking by advertisers, who are using ever more sophisticated methods to both collect data on online users and to direct specific advertising at them.According to the LA Times, some 82% of California voters are concerned about how their information is being collected by corporations, though it might be difficult for much of the public to accurately understand just how much of their personal data is being collected – and to what extent they should be concerned.According to Assemblywoman Lowenthal, the issue is not public support, but rather reaching a compromise with an online industry which seems to bank its profitability on collecting personal data.”Californians don’t need to be persuaded that they should be able to ask a business what it knows about them and who it’s sharing that information with. But in the Legislature, it has become clear that we still have our work cut out for us,”said Lowenthal. … Read More
NDItech: In Bed with CISPA Sponsors, Seeks Hacktivists to Spread Corporate Fascism Worldwide
Seeking to co-opt the tech community, NDItech opens doors and taxpayers’ pocketbooks to lure in talent. … Read More
McConnell responds to Obama’s drink joke with Clint Eastwood joke
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell responded to a crack President Obama made about him at the White House Corredspondents’ Dinner with a reference to Clint Eastwood’s empty chair bit at the Republican National Convention.Obama had joked that people complain that he doesn’t reach across the aisle enough. ”‘Why don’t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?’ they ask,” Obama said. “Really? Why don’t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?”McConnell responded during an appearance before the Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Washington Post reports, saying: “I’m shocked. He’s obviously not seeing my soft side.”His campaign Twitter account also tweeted a picture of McConnell drinking with an empty chair, also looping in Clint Eastwood:[embedtweet id="328939838835392513"] ;Continue Reading… … Read More
Repeal the sequester, already!
Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good. Most had forecast growth of at least 3 percent (on an annualized basis) in the first quarter. But we learned this morning (in the Commerce Department’s report) it grew only 2.5 percent.That’s better than the 2 percent growth last year and the slowdown at the end of the year. But it’s still cause for serious concern.First, consumers won’t keep up the spending.Their savings rate fell sharply — from 4.7% in the last quarter of 2012 to 2.6% from January through March.Add in March’s dismal employment report, the lowest percentage of working-age adults in jobs since 1979, and January’s hike in payroll taxes, and consumer spending will almost certainly drop.Median household incomes continues to decline, adjusted for inflation. Another report out today showed consumer confidence fell in April.Second, the recovery continues to be wildly lopsided. The only thing really keeping it going is the rip-roaring stock market. But the stock market only boosts the wealth of the richest 10 percent of Americans, who own 90 percent of stocks (including 401-K retirement accounts).Continue Reading… … Read More
Senate committee representative: CISPA will almost certainly be shelved due to privacy concerns
The highly controversial Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), which passed the House last week, will “almost certainly be shelved by the Senate,” according to a representative of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation … Read More
‘Dead for now:’ CISPA halted in the Senate
The bill, which was purportedly designed to allow the federal government to share private user information with corporations in situations of a suspected cyber threat, was the source of widespread ire from privacy advocates.Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), chairman of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, confirmed that CISPA’s passage seemed unlikely due to the bill’s lack of privacy protections, which the Senator deemed “insufficient.”According to US News & World Report, a representative of the Senate committee stated that, though CISPA seems to be dead for the time being, issues and key provisions from that bill may still re-emerge.”We’re not taking [CISPA] up. Staff and senators are divvying up the issues and the key provisions everyone agrees would need to be handled if we’re going to strengthen cybersecurity. They’ll be drafting separate bills,” said the representative.President Obama had threatened to veto CISPA in its current form due to its lack of personal privacy provisions. A representative with the ACLU, which along with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) was one of the bill’s most vocal critics, also believed that the legislation now faces an uncertain future.”I think it’s dead for now,” says Michelle Richardson, legislative council with the ACLU. “CISPA is too controversial, it’s too expansive, it’s just not the same sort of program contemplated by the Senate last year. We’re pleased to hear the Senate will probably pick up where it left off last year,” she told US News.According to the EFF, CISPA represents a “dangerous” level of access to private information, and would allow the National Security Agency to obtain online communications data without a warrant. According to Richardson, it should be three months before any cybersecurity legislation sees a vote in the Senate. … Read More
‘Stockholm to grow faster than London by 2030′
Stockholm’s population is among the fastest growing among European cities, with a new report by the city’s chamber of commerce suggesting that by 2030, the Swedish capital will overtake London as the fastest growing city in western Europe. … Read More
