The Virginia Senate voted 36-0 for a comprehensive privacy bill (SB-1392) at a livestreamed floor session Friday. One senator didn’t vote due to a conflict of interest. Companion HB-2307 cleared the House 89-9 on Jan. 29 (see 2102010035). Virginia’s attorney general would enforce the rules. “This bill is an effort to set clear expectations for companies who handle or collect consumer data, and to proactively protect the rights of consumers,” said SB-1392 sponsor Sen. David Marsden (D) in a statement. “We’ve been overwhelmed with feedback from people who have been tracking the Consumer Data Protection Act this legislative session.” The House and Senate versions must be reconciled before session ends Feb. 11, but “that appears to be a mere formality given that the bills are identical and the House bill is already working its way through the Senate,” Husch Blackwell attorney David Stauss blogged Thursday. Other privacy bills are gaining momentum in New York and Washington state, Kelley Drye lawyers blogged Wednesday.
Establish a new information portal for reporting suspected illegal robocalls, USTelecom commented Tuesday in FCC docket 20-374 (see 2012080065). The portal should be "distinct from the existing informal complaint process for consumers, and should instead be available principally for private organizations and others that intend to report broader patterns of suspected" violations, USTelecom said. It should be voluntary and monitored to ensure consumer complaints don't inadvertently appear, and it should direct consumers to the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau instead, CTIA said. Twilio disagreed: Two portals would be "likely to create confusion and could lead to duplicative reporting." Commenters agreed private entities should work with the Traceback Consortium before submitting information through the portal. Safe Credit Union asked for clarification on the "escalation and reporting process to a business or service provider when reviewing information submitted by private entities."
Telecom carriers and interconnected VoIP providers must file their customer proprietary network information annual certification by March 1, an FCC enforcement advisory said in Thursday's Daily Digest. All companies, regardless of size, are required to do so. The docket is 06-36.
NCTA was the commenter saying the FCC should promote the transition to IP-to-IP voice interconnection, citing secure telephone identity revisited and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens (see 2102020044).
Don't compel voice service providers to adopt FCC Hospital Robocall Protection Group best practices (see 2012140035) because “substantial ongoing efforts on multiple fronts” are ongoing to stop illegal robocalls, Lumen said in docket 21-7: The group’s recommendations on preventing and mitigating robocalls could be applied more broadly. USTelecom backed Lumen’s recommendations and supported the HRPG's report. Promote the transition to IP-to-IP voice interconnection, NCTA said, "especially given that the full potential” of the secure telephone identity revisited and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens “framework will only be realized when the IP transition is complete." Ribbon Communications, which recently combined with ECI Telecom Group, recommended providers route potential robocalls to a “voice captcha” or indicate a call is “potential spam” so the called party can decide whether to answer. Let hospitals adopt cloud-based mitigation services, “whereby the hospital takes ownership and control over the prevention and mitigation of robocalls and fraud attempts,” Ribbon said.
Zoom must implement a “comprehensive security program” and adhere to biennial independent third-party privacy assessments, the FTC announced Monday in a finalized deal (see 2011100024). The company must “review any software updates for security flaws prior to release and ensure the updates will not hamper third-party security features,” the agency said. Commissioners voted 3-2, with the two Democrats dissenting, as they did in the initial vote. Acting Chair Rebecca Kelly Slaughter noted “widespread opposition” comments. The decision is “particularly troubling in light of" DOJ recently charging a “Zoom employee with allegedly participating in a scheme to surveil, disclose, and censor political and religious speech of individuals” worldwide at the direction of Chinese leadership, she said. The agency “must think beyond its status quo approach of simply requiring more paperwork, rather than real accountability relying on a thorough investigation,” said Commissioner Rohit Chopra. Commissioner Christine Wilson noted the inclusion of “targeted fencing in relief that provides privacy protections to consumers.” Provisions address the type of conduct seen with the DOJ charges, she said. “Advancements we have made to our platform are well-documented, and we are continuously improving our privacy and security programs,” a company spokesperson emailed. “We remain committed to fulfilling the expectations of the millions of people who trust and rely on our platform.”
Washington state Rep. Shelley Kloba (D) floated an alternative privacy bill Thursday, as expected (see 2101240003). Unlike SB-5062 in the Senate, HB-1433 includes a private right of action and opt-in consent. The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington said it wrote the House bill with the Tech Equity Coalition.
The American Bankers Association and others asked the FCC to correct what they said was a mistake in a December order clarifying rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 2012140056). The FCC “limited the number of calls that may be placed under the Informational Calls Exemption to three calls within any consecutive 30-day period,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 02-278. “The Commission amended Section 64.1200(a)(3) of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations in a manner that appears inadvertently to impose a prior express written consent requirement on informational prerecorded or artificial voice calls to a residential number made outside of the Informational Calls Exemption,” the filing said: “Imposing a written consent requirement was clearly in error as it conflicts directly with the text of the Order and other codified regulations in Section 64.1200.” The bankers and other financial groups spoke with Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff.
About 80% of companies believe omnibus privacy laws have had a “positive impact” in their jurisdictions, Cisco reported Tuesday. The company surveyed 4,400 “security and privacy professionals across 25 countries.” About 60% of companies claim they “weren't prepared for privacy and security requirements involved” in shifting to remote work, according to the survey. Nearly 60% of respondents said they support employers “using data to help make workplaces safe, while less than half supported location tracking, contact tracing, disclosing information about infected individuals, and using individual information for research,” said Cisco.
A Florida Senate panel supported requiring warrants for police searches of cellphones, other portable communication devices and smart speakers, except in emergencies. The Criminal Justice Committee voted 7-1 for SB-144 at a livestreamed Tuesday hearing. “Our founding fathers could not have imagined a world in which we have Amazon Alexas and cellphones and GPS systems that are on our wrists,” said Vice Chair Jeff Brandes (R). Sen. George Gainer (R) voted no after asking, “Wouldn’t this bill interfere with the apprehension of pretty dangerous people?” Nobody on the committee opposed a bill to allow police to use drones for crowd control and traffic management. SB-44 wouldn’t allow police to use drones to collect evidence of violations, and the panel amended the bill to remove a section that would have allowed drones for monitoring crowds of 50 or more. There appeared to be some confusion about if the bill would allow drones to be used in high-speed chases. Sponsor Sen. Tom Wright (R) said he intended to allow police to send drones after escaping vehicles, but committee Staff Director Lauren Jones said the bill as written wouldn’t allow that.