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Mar 13, 2018

techpolicypodcast_washingtech_joejerome

Joe Jerome: An overview of GDPR requirements (Ep. 130)

Bio

 Joseph Jerome (@joejerome) is a Policy Counsel on CDT’s Privacy & Data Project. His work focuses on the legal and ethical questions posed by smart technologies and big data, and he is interested in developing transparency and accountability mechanisms and procedures around novel uses of data.

Prior to joining CDT, Joe was an associate in the cybersecurity and privacy practice of a major law firm. His practice focused on advertising technologies and privacy compliance in the health and financial sectors. Additionally, he worked on a wide range of consumer privacy issues at the Future of Privacy Forum and has written articles about data ethics, trust in the online gig economy, and emerging technologies in video games.

Joe has a J.D. from the New York University School of Law, where he was an International Law and Human Rights Student Fellow, and a B.A. from Boston University.

Resources

enter for Democracy and Technology (CDT)

Top 10 operational impacts of the GDPR (via IAPP)

Top 10 operational responses to the GDPR (via IAPP)

Security, Privacy & Tech Inquiries Blog by Lukasz Olejnik

World without Mind by Franklin Foer

News Roundup

Trump fails to act on Russian cyberattacks

U.S. Cyber Command head Admiral Mike Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee that President Trump has yet to give an order to implement measures that would prevent further Russian cyberattacks. This is despite reports last week of Russia’s deepening efforts to interfere with American politics. For example, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology released a report saying that between 2015 and 2017, accounts on social media that were linked to Russian propagandists, tried to influence policies that would undermine U.S. efforts to sell natural gas in Europe where Russia has considerable market share. Also, Reddit reported that thousands shared Russian propaganda on its site, prompting demands for more answers from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also investigating Tumblr. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is also said to be pursuing a case against Russians who conducted cyberattacks against Democrats during the 2016 election. These charges would be in addition to the ones Mueller has already brought against Russians accused of spreading propaganda on social media, according to NBC News’ Ken Dilanian.

 

But despite the absence of specific directives from the White House to U.S. Cyber Command, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats claimed before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the White House is taking a “whole government approach” under which the president has tasked the 17 agencies Mr. Coats oversees with addressing the Russian cyber threat.

 

John Bowden at the Hill reported that Russians also collected Americans’ personal data from social media platforms during the 2016 campaign.

 

On Monday top Democrats including Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Dianne Feinstein wrote a letter to President Trump urging him to extradite the 13 Russian nationals FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted last month for allegedly using social media to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that the extradition would never happen.

Ninth Circuit will hear consolidated net neutrality appeal

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in San Francisco, will hear the multidistrict litigation initiated by 22 state attorneys general to appeal the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to repeal the Obama-era net neutrality rules. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict litigation chose the Ninth circuit at random.

Trump blocks Broadcom acquisition of Qualcomm

President Trump has blocked Singapore tech giant Broadcom’s acquisition of Qualcomm, citing national security concerns. At $117 billion, the merger of the two chipmakers would have been the biggest tech deal in history. The Verge reports that Broadcom is in the process of moving its headquarters to the U.S. by April 3rd.  

Twitter cracks down on ‘Tweetdeckers

Twitter purged several accounts for “tweetdecking”, a violation of Twitter’s spam policy in which users mass tweet each other’s tweets using platforms like Tweetdeck. Some of the accounts that were suspended had millions of followers. A new MIT study also released last week found that fake news travels some 6 times faster on Twitter than the truth.

White House holds video game violence meeting

 Harper Neidig at the Hill reported on the White House’s meeting with video game industry representatives. The president convened the behind-closed-doors meeting to discuss the role of video games in promoting mass shootings. In attendance were representatives from the Parents Television Council, Entertainment Software Association, as well as executives from game makers Rockstar and ZeniMax. The Verge reported that the meeting was largely unproductive and Activision announced the release of its latest ‘Call of Duty’ installment on the same day the White House meeting took place.

FBI paid Geek Squad employees to inform on Child Pornography

Laurel Wamsley at NPR reported that the FBI paid informants at Best Buy’s computer repair service unit Geek Squad to flag child pornography found on their customers’ computers.The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the FBI last year about these searches and the new documents illustrate more about the nature of the relationship between the FBI and Geek Squad. FBI Agent Tracey Riley testified in a Jefferson County Kentucky Circuit Court last week confirming that that FBI agents paid Geek Squad workers in a Best Buy store in Kentucky when they found child pornography.

 FCC Proposes $1 billion for Caribbean hurricane recovery efforts

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed over $1 billion in funding to aid in the recovery of communications networks in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Sixty-four million would go immediately towards restoring networks. The rest, or $954 million, would go towards longer-term projects to enhance broadband networks in the Caribbean. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill.

Congressional Black Caucus pushes tech on lobbying diversity

The Congressional Black Caucus wrote a letter to the Internet Association, CTIA, NCTA and US Telecom urging them to hire and retain more black lobbyists given African-Americans’ widespread use of mobile devices.

White House joins push for internet sales tax

The White House is joining in states’ push for the Supreme Court to overturn a 1992 precedent, Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, that held that many online retailers don’t have to add sales tax to the prices their customers pay. Thirty-five states support overturning the decision. Online retailers who oppose doing so claim that it would be too onerous to collect taxes from fifty different states. Jess Bravin reports for the Wall Street Journal.

Number of Americans affected by Equifax breach keeps growing

Equifax’s interim Chief Executive Paulino do Rego Barros Jr. announced on Thursday that an additional 2.4 million consumers were affected by their massive data breach last year. It brings the total up to 147.9 million. Brian Fung reports in the Washington Post.

House reauthorizes the FCC

The House voted to reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission with legislation that seeks to develop 5G networks and invest funds for the spectrum incentive auction. If the bill passes Congress, it will be the first time since 1990 that Congress has reauthorized the Commission. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill.

Amazon offering 54 percent discount to Medicaid recipients

Amazon announced last week that, for Medicaid recipients only, it would cut the monthly Prime subscription down to $5.99 per month. This is $7.00 less than the standard $12.99 fee. The move is seen as an effort by Amazon to attract Walmart customers.

MIT study finds Uber & Lyft drivers earn less than minimum wage

A new MIT study found that Uber and Lyft drivers earn less on average that minimum wage workers. The report found a median profit of $3.37 per hour before taxes. Ashley May has the report in USA Today.