- The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a hearing last week where Foreign Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner, Maureen Ohlhausen argued for “the repeal of the communications common carrier exemption which would transfer regulatory power of telecommunications networks from the [FCC] to the FTC[,]” according to the ACLU. This would significantly limit government privacy oversight.
- The New York Times reports that eight leading tech companies are lobbying for new limits on government surveillance. Their plan, presented in the form of a presentation and open letter in prominent national newspapers, is coupled with the companies’ continued efforts to change their technological structures in a way that works to thwart spying and boost security.
- Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) has said that he plans to introduce legislation very soon that will boost consumer privacy protections through, for example, adding a warrant requirement to police investigations that desire cellphone location information from wireless providers, according to The New York Times.
- The boom of increased security measures online, such as encrypted email and secure instant messaging, may not be as effective as the public thinks, reports the Associated Press. Rather, the extra security steps are often of variable quality and can, instead, overwhelm computer systems without keeping out adversaries.
- Finally, SF Gate reports that a new virus has emerged just in time for the holidays. Cryptolocker, which originated in the UK and is now spreading through the US, is a ransomware virus that permits hackers to encrypt a computer’s files and demand the owner or user pay in bitcoins in order to undo the encryption.
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