The FBI’s circumvention of court orders by purchasing cellphone data "violates the spirit of the Constitution,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told us Thursday.
Karl Herchenroeder
Karl Herchenroeder, Associate Editor, is a technology policy journalist for publications including Communications Daily. Born in Rockville, Maryland, he joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2018. He began his journalism career in 2012 at the Aspen Times in Aspen, Colorado, where he covered city government. After that, he covered the nuclear industry for ExchangeMonitor in Washington. You can follow Herchenroeder on Twitter: @karlherk
House Judiciary Committee Republicans accused Democrats of trying to censor testimony Thursday in a way that mirrors how they allege the federal government colluded with social media companies to censor legitimate news stories.
The House Judiciary Committee passed legislation Wednesday that would ban law enforcement and intelligence agencies from buying consumer data from brokers without a warrant (see 2307180064). Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., voted “present,” making him the only member not to support the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act (HR-4639). He defended the FBI during Friday’s hearing on reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Industry and consumer advocates clashed Wednesday after the FTC and DOJ issued draft merger guidelines detailing what transactions violate antitrust law (see 2206210071).
Congress should pass federal right-to-repair legislation to supersede ill-equipped state laws that will soon become obsolete, advocates told House Judiciary Committee members Tuesday.
The AI working group led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., won’t rush to introduce legislation, members of the group told us after their second Senate AI briefing (see 2307110049).
Requiring a warrant for backdoor searches is one way to curb surveillance abuse under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, House Judiciary Committee members were told Friday during a hearing on FISA reauthorization (see 2306130053).
FTC Chair Lina Khan defended her record against attacks from House Judiciary Committee Republicans questioning her ethics standards Thursday. The majority repeatedly questioned Khan’s refusal to recuse herself from proceedings on Meta’s purchase of Within Unlimited (see 2210190038), despite an FTC ethics official’s recommendation that she do so (see 2306300076).
The FBI isn’t “in the business” of moderating social media content or forcing companies to limit speech, Director Christopher Wray told the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday.
The U.S. shouldn’t pursue AI legislation unless it applies to specific harms not covered by current law, tech associations told the White House in comments due Friday.