Karl Herchenroeder

The Trump administration’s failure to appoint a permanent EU-U.S. Privacy Shield ombudsman and stagnation of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) will be points of contention when officials from both sides of the Atlantic meet in October, experts told us. Also expect the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica privacy breach (see 1804100054 and 1804110065) to be a major topic, said Access Now Policy Counsel Drew Mitnick. EU officials want details on how the FTC, U.S. enforcer of the Privacy Shield, is handling its investigation into potential Facebook violations of a 2011 consent decree, so they can better gauge the strength of the agency’s authority.

The White House will work with Congress to develop online privacy legislation guided by a set of principles expected from the Commerce Department in September, officials and industry representatives told us. White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters emailed that the Trump administration aims to craft a consumer privacy protection policy that's the “appropriate balance between privacy and prosperity” through the National Economic Council. The administration looks forward to working transparently with stakeholders and Congress “on a legislative solution consistent with our overarching policy,” she said.

The deal between songwriters and a performing rights organization (see 1808020053) could be the last major hurdle for passage of landmark music copyright legislation, industry representatives told us Friday. “We need to turn down the noise and try to get a bill passed right now,” said Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Executive Director Bart Herbison Friday. A day earlier, he announced a deal with the Songwriters of North America (SONA), SESAC and the National Music Publishers’ Association for the Music Modernization Act.

Executives from the Center for Democracy and Technology and BSA|The Software Alliance agreed this week the U.S. needs federal privacy regulation. They said the ultimate goal should be international harmonization of privacy rules. Europe took an important step implementing the general data protection regulation, and now partners need to work toward international consensus on privacy, said BSA CEO Victoria Espinel on a scheduled weekend telecast of C-SPAN’s The Communicators.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Wednesday he will roll out a plan “in the weeks ahead” to bolster FTC authority and resources for protecting Americans' data. Asked after the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in which he made the announcement (see 1808010074), Wyden declined to offer exact detail about whether his “plan” is legislation, a resolution or another vehicle. Protecting private data is going to be a “national security issue,” Wyden said during the hearing, accusing Russia and Cambridge Analytica of exploiting Facebook to abuse personal information. “A significant part of the failure is the fact that the Federal Trade Commission doesn’t have the authority or the resources to be a tougher cop on the beat, and I’m going to be rolling out a plan to fix that in the weeks ahead,” Wyden said.

It’s clear Russian adversaries have gotten better at masking social media influence campaigns, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., told reporters after a hearing on foreign interference. A day earlier, Facebook announced it removed 32 pages and accounts potentially linked to Russian disinformation efforts there and on Instagram. Like Warner, Facebook suggested the account holders, who weren't identified as Russian, are using more sophisticated methods (see 1807310067) for manipulating the platforms than the malicious behavior during the 2016 election.

Developing an internationally applicable online privacy framework is a major hurdle, given fundamental differences among the U.S., the EU and adversaries like China and Russia, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told us Tuesday. Industry representatives and a conservative scholar described during a Senate Internet Subcommittee hearing anti-business impacts of EU’s general data protection regulation.

Lawmakers following Google's appeal of the EU’s recent $5 billion fine alleging anti-competitive behavior linked to the Android mobile operating system's market dominance (see 1807180003) are considering next steps. “The EU just has a different regulatory environment, but … it potentially has impact on how we think about these issues here in America, too,” Senate Commerce Committee member Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told us.

The EU has no intention of suspending the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield, despite a European Parliament committee’s recommendation, said British Conservative European Parliament Member Syed Kamall this week. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, and the European Council, made up of EU heads of state, aren't on board with the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs’ motion, Kamall said on a scheduled weekend telecast of C-SPAN’s The Communicators: “They’ve got too many tech companies in their own countries that want to continue those data flows.” Kamall also discussed tech “envy” in the EU, where U.S. tech dominance is drawing the attention of EU authorities. This attitude partly fuels government efforts to extract taxes from these companies, he said, suggesting European companies sell out to U.S. entities when they develop promising products. Kamall also discussed the evolution of social media, saying when Facebook started, people weren't as keen on data use and security: “We’re evolving from being initially very enthusiastic about some of these free services online. We’re now starting to ask the question: Now hold on a minute, what happens to my data? And I think that’s the same on both sides of the Atlantic.”

FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips warned against privacy regulation further solidifying dominance of large tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. NTIA Administrator David Redl also at the Internet Governance Forum USA Friday said the U.S. government “must continue to give a green light to innovators."