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Welcome! Follow the cyber team, Olivia Beavers (@olivia_beavers) and Jacqueline Thomsen (@jacq_thomsen), and the tech team, Harper Neidig (@hneidig) and Emily Birnbaum (@birnbaum_e).
FACEBOOK SAGA NEARS ITS END: Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are negotiating a settlement that would involve greater oversight of the company’s privacy practices, according to media reports this week.
On Friday, The Washington Post reported that Facebook had told the agency it was willing to undergo privacy assessments of its business practices as part of a settlement to end the FTC’s yearlong probe into the company.
Any such concession would reportedly be in addition to a potential record fine against the social network. Last week, Facebook revealed that it was anticipating a fine of up to $5 billion.
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Politico first reported that the concessions were part of the negotiations earlier this week.
The settlement has yet to be completed and would still be subject to a vote from the FTC’s five commissioners.
The proposal for increased oversight would reportedly include a person appointed by regulators to oversee privacy practices within the company and it would designate Facebook CEO and Chairman Mark ZuckerbergMark Elliot ZuckerbergHillicon Valley: Facebook nears settlement with FTC | Lawmakers push bill restricting border agency from selling data | Ocasio-Cortez backs Warren plan to break up tech giants Facebook has agreed to greater oversight in talks with FTC: reports Facebook announces redesign focused on expanding groups feature MORE as the compliance officer. It could also involve a “privacy committee” within the company consisting of board members and other officials.
Facebook and the FTC declined to comment on the reports.
Read more here.
LET’S WEIGH THE PROS AND CONS: A group of senators on Friday will introduce a bipartisan bill aimed at preventing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from selling citizens’ personal data, in an effort to reduce identity theft and credit card fraud.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Steve DainesSteven (Steve) David DainesTrump: I am ‘looking hard’ at bipartisan infrastructure plan of -2 trillion Hillicon Valley: Facebook nears settlement with FTC | Lawmakers push bill restricting border agency from selling data | Ocasio-Cortez backs Warren plan to break up tech giants Senators introduce bill to prevent border agency from selling personal data MORE (R-Mont.) and Gary PetersGary Charles PetersHillicon Valley: Facebook nears settlement with FTC | Lawmakers push bill restricting border agency from selling data | Ocasio-Cortez backs Warren plan to break up tech giants Senators introduce bill to prevent border agency from selling personal data Sanders, Klobuchar among five most popular senators: poll MORE (D-Mich.), would close a legal loophole that allows CBP to sell certain personal information to third-party data brokers when people move overseas.
The measure, which is being reintroduced in both chambers, would require CBP to remove personally identifiable information from any manifests produced when Americans move their belongings into or out of the country.
Those documents typically have personal information like residential addresses, Social Security numbers and passport numbers. The information is included when CBP releases certain shipment data, making the sensitive information publicly available.
This has led to some instances of identity theft and credit card fraud.
The bill, which was introduced in 2017 but stalled in the previous Congress, is aimed at safeguarding the personal information of Americans making international moves. It would amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to prevent the disclosure of personal information contained in manifests when CBP releases shipment data.
Read more here.
THERE’S ONE VOTE: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezOcasio-Cortez says she’s not ready to endorse 2020 candidate, will focus on local races Klobuchar is a worthy candidate, getting no attention Climate change emerges as leading issue for 2020 Dems MORE (D-N.Y.) is backing 2020 presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenSanders faces big problem with Biden and black voters The student debt crisis isn’t what you think it is Klobuchar is a worthy candidate, getting no attention MORE‘s (D-Mass.) plan to break up big tech companies.
“The idea itself is something that I am supportive of because taking an antitrust approach I believe is absolutely relevant and it’s appropriate to take,” the progressive House freshman said in an interview with Politico this week.
Warren’s proposal would break up companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon, targeting firms that both own an online platform and participate in its marketplace. Ocasio-Cortez echoed criticisms of such arrangements, arguing that in the case of Amazon, its role as “both the marketplace, producer, seller … creates an antitrust issue.”
The New York Democrat was an outspoken critic of Amazon’s plans to open a headquarters near her district in Queens, N.Y. And last month, she announced she had quit Facebook and called social media a “public health risk.”
Read more here.
LEVEL UP: Donald Trump Jr.Donald (Don) John TrumpCNN’s Jake Tapper: Trump’s claims that campaign ‘rebuffed’ Russian outreach are ‘a lie’ Hillicon Valley: Facebook nears settlement with FTC | Lawmakers push bill restricting border agency from selling data | Ocasio-Cortez backs Warren plan to break up tech giants Trump Jr accuses Facebook of ‘taking their censorship campaign to the next level’ MORE on Friday said Facebook is “taking their censorship campaign to the next level” after the company banned from its platform an assortment of individuals the company described as “dangerous.”
The president’s eldest son asserted in a tweet that Facebook and other big tech firms have engaged in the “purposeful & calculated silencing of conservatives” and it should “terrify everyone.”
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“Ask yourself, how long before they come to purge you?” Trump Jr. wrote. “We must fight back.”
Facebook did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The company on Thursday banned a host of prominent figures it described as “dangerous,” including right-wing commentator and former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
The bans, which extend to Facebook’s image-sharing platform Instagram, include neo-Nazi and former political candidate Paul Nehlen and anti-Muslim provocateur Laura Loomer.
Facebook said it decided to ban the figures after an extensive review of their behavior on the platform. The company said all of those banned had contributed to the spread of hatred, whether by calling for violence against people based on their identity, following a hateful ideology, using hate speech or slurs in their “About section,” and more.
Nehlen has been kicked off of other social media platforms for spreading anti-Semitic and white supremacist views. Loomer was recently banned from Twitter after using anti-Muslim rhetoric against Rep. Ilhan OmarIlhan OmarTlaib criticizes New York Times for framing of Israeli-Palestinian conflict More than three million people over the age of 60 still struggling to pay off student loan debts: report Omar fires back at Pence for saying she ‘doesn’t know what she’s talking about’ MORE (D-Minn.).
Read more here.
AN OP-ED TO CHEW ON: Oracle exec: Google’s argument ignores explosion in innovation.
A LIGHTER CLICK: Tough but fair.
NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB:
With Uber’s IPO, Dara Khosrowshahi is taking Travis Kalanick’s company public. (The New York Times)
For Facebook, ‘we banned these extremists’ is the new product launch. (Buzzfeed News)
Pornhub wants to buy Tumblr and restore site to former porn-filled glory. (Ars Technica)
FCC alerts consumers to ‘one ring’ call back scam. (FCC)