Vizio and Verizon Media will partner on “cross-platform” and smart TV ad solutions using “unique TV viewership data and premium programmatic inventory access,” said the companies Thursday. The deal gives Verizon exclusive “demand-side platform” access beginning in 2022 to Vizio’s Inscape viewership data from more than 18 million “opted-in” Vizio smart TVs. Vizio's Q1 earnings call May 11 will be its first since going public March 25 (see 2104230001).
A privacy bill with no private right of action passed the Florida Senate 29-11 Thursday. The Senate removed the ability for individuals to sue from HB-969 by amendment Wednesday (see 2104280054). The House must agree to the Senate’s changes before the bill can go to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). While disappointed the Senate won’t allow private suits, Sen. Gary Farmer, who reportedly was replaced Wednesday as Democratic Senate leader, said the bill is a “good start.” Voting no, Sen. Jeff Brandes (R) complained that the Senate debated the bill Wednesday for only nine minutes. "Nine minutes on what could be the largest tax increase on businesses or regulatory burden on businesses that has ever come through this chamber." It's good the Senate removed the private cause, but the measure still allows class actions, Brandes said. It will inappropriately cover some businesses, which will be caught "like dolphins in a tuna net,” he added. Sponsor Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R) downplayed the cost to businesses, saying the bill mainly requires them to add opt-out buttons to their websites. The legislature ends session Friday.
The Florida House passed a bill 78-41 Wednesday to make it unlawful for social media sites to de-platform political candidates, and require sites be transparent about policing users. The Senate passed SB-7072 before but must agree with the House’s Tuesday amendment tweaking the definition of social media in the bill (see 2104270056). "This bill protects the rights of the Floridians who have voted us here to represent them,” said sponsor Rep. Blaise Ingoglia (R) in livestreamed floor debate Tuesday. “Just because the federal government refuses to act does not mean this legislature shouldn't.” Likening the U.S. today to Cuba and censorship states, Rep. Thad Altman (R) urged colleagues to "stand up against this totalitarian view against our first amendment." Big tech is “an existential threat” to the republic, added Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R). There’s a way for politicians to avoid getting deplatformed, said Rep. Carlos Smith (D): "Stop trafficking in conspiracy theories" and "pushing misinformation." Other Democrats slammed the bill as unconstitutional. Also Wednesday, the Florida Senate removed a private right of action in the House’s privacy bill (HB-969) by adopting by voice an amendment by Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R) that effectively replaced the House bill with the Senate’s version (SB-1734). The proposed law would be enforced entirely by the Florida attorney general, Bradley said on the livestreamed Senate floor session Wednesday. Today’s internet is a “surveillance economy,” she said. "In a perfect world, the federal government would act.” The Senate teed up a vote by placing HB-969 on third reading, but senators didn’t vote by our deadline. HB-969 sponsor Rep. Fiona McFarland (D) will take "a close look" at Senate language, her aide said. Bradley’s amendment includes “changes fought for by the larger business community in Florida,” including “more favorable definitions of selling and sharing data” and removing the private right, blogged McGuireWoods Consulting.
Federal law enforcement agencies should better assess privacy and other risks, a classified GAO report said Wednesday concerning face-scanning technology (see "Fiscal Year 2021"). No more information was released.
TiVo’s Stream 4K was the only streaming player out of 18 devices in a recent Consumer Reports rating that didn’t encrypt data it sent out, said the organization Monday. User information -- such as SSID, city and state, and longitude and latitude coordinates that could be used to pinpoint a street address -- were exposed, said CR, which notified TiVo. The Xperi-owned company “quickly agreed to fix the problem,” it said. TiVo attributed the weakness to a third-party app’s “transmission of certain data.” CR found the TiVo Edge DVR also was sending unencrypted data, but information didn’t include user data such as IP addresses, and CR didn’t see it as a risk to consumers. The TiVo Stream 4K flaw could leave users open to security vulnerabilities such as a malicious app that has access to a user’s network, CR said: An attacker could use the information, along with other valuable data, to create “an even more invasive attack.” TiVo fixed the problem by the end of March, a company spokesperson told us Tuesday: "We take consumer privacy very seriously and acted as quickly as we could -- pushing the fixes out to the affected devices."
The FCC Enforcement Bureau wants letters of intent by May 27 from entities interested in coordinating industry-led efforts to trace the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls, a public notice said Monday in docket 20-22. USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group was put in charge of the consortium last year (see 2007270068). EB will pick the next consortium by Aug. 25.
Alaska’s administration knows its comprehensive privacy bill needs “substantial additional work to find that right balance” between protecting consumers and not burdening small and medium-size businesses, said Alaska Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills at a hearing livestreamed Friday. Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) proposed the bill. House Commerce Committee co-Chair Zack Fields (D) said he hoped for enforcement changes “to make sure it has some teeth,” noting HB-159 doesn’t include a broad private right of action, and another option is to set up and fund a specialized enforcement agency. Assistant Attorney General John Haley read through the text section by section, occasionally stopping to take questions, and didn’t get all the way through before the panel moved on. Fields said the committee will pick up the reading again at its next hearing, scheduled for Monday at 7:15 p.m. EDT. A Washington state House vote wasn’t expected to have occurred Friday on the Senate’s privacy bill (SB-5062), said a House Democrats spokesperson. That legislature ends session Sunday. There's disagreement over allowing private suits in Washington and Florida (see 2104220062).
A privacy bill with a private right of action passed the Florida House 118-1 Wednesday. The Senate has SB-1734 without a private right. Rep. Ben Diamond (D) said on the floor Wednesday that he voted for HB-969 despite his concerns about allowing private lawsuits, because he understands the two chambers and governor’s office are in talks about the right approach. Diamond was confident that attorney general enforcement is enough and worried about maintaining Florida’s “reputation” as a “business-friendly state.” Rep. Anna Eskamani (D) hoped negotiations don’t lead to a weaker bill. HB-969 sponsor Rep. Fiona McFarland (R) kept supporting including the private right (see 2104200066). “Please vote to make Florida a place where Big Tech ... does not control our data and does not control our government,” McFarland said. Consumer Reports praised the House for keeping a private right but noted that HB-969 lacks a provision from the Senate bill to require companies to honor opt-out browser signals. The House bill has "strong enforcement and a comprehensive opt out," said CR Senior Policy Analyst Maureen Mahoney. "But the bill should also make it easy for Floridians to opt out."
The FCC launched its robocall mitigation database Tuesday, said a Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 17-97. Voice service providers have until June 30 to submit the required information. Intermediate and terminating voice service providers must block traffic from providers not listed in the database, beginning Sept. 28. “Protecting consumers from scammers that use robocall and spoofing tools is a top priority,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. "Our message to providers is clear: certify under penalty of perjury the steps you are taking to stop illegal robocalls, or we will block your calls.”
Videoconferences may be “less exhausting” if participants have a sense of group belonging, reported the American Psychological Association Monday on the personal toll that virtual meetings are taking during COVID-19. Researchers originally surmised that longer meetings and appearing on video would lead factors contributing to “Zoom fatigue,” but a study of 55 employees said a connection with the group minimized fatigue. Participants received nine hourly surveys daily for five consecutive working days last year, completing more than 1,700 surveys based on five to six weekly videoconferences. Researchers’ recommendations included holding meetings in the early afternoon; allowing time for small talk before or after, along with breakout rooms where participants can talk about shared interests; establishing basic rules such as whether to keep webcams on; and taking screen breaks.