A proposal from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to tax the tech industry on data collection is a political move that’s not realistically enforceable, said politically conservative and libertarian tech observers Tuesday. During an American Action Forum event, R Street Institute Fellow Caleb Watney called it an effort to seize political momentum, rather than an attempt to solve real issues.
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
Democrat and Republican staffs are in informal discussions about privacy legislation, House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., told us. That signals the committee’s bipartisan legislative discussion isn't as advanced as its Senate counterpart. “We’ve been meeting about it. We fully intend to talk to them in the hopes of getting something bipartisan, but we’re not there yet,” she told us. Schakowsky is the Democratic lead on the committee’s privacy effort.
The U.S. might need legislation to combat the influx of frivolous Chinese trademark applications, Patent and Trademark Office Director Andrei Iancu told the Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Wednesday. Chinese trademark applications have increased 1,100 percent cumulatively in the past six years, he said. Iancu noted at the hearing, however, that Chinese applications have decreased to start 2019, possibly because of increased scrutiny.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; and Chris Coons, D-Del., formed a Senate Judiciary Committee privacy working group, Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Blumenthal and Coons told us. Judiciary heard testimony from Google, Intel, DuckDuckGo, Mapbox and others during a privacy hearing Tuesday.
Data privacy issues can’t be fully addressed using antitrust tools, Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us separately. The Senate Judiciary Committee will discuss the intersection of antitrust and privacy policies Tuesday, with Google, Intel and Mapbox among those invited to testify (see 1903070072). Intel confirmed Friday that Global Privacy Director David Hoffman will testify.
The Senate Judiciary Committee invited Google, Intel and Mapbox to testify at Tuesday’s privacy hearing (see 1903050073), said tech lobbyists. American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Roslyn Layton and University of Arizona law professor Jane Bambauer also were invited, said the lobbyists. The hearing is expected to include two panels with as many as three additional witnesses, they said. Mapbox confirmed it’s sending Policy Lead Tom Lee. The other potential witnesses and the committee didn’t comment.
Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Tom Carper, D-Del., are developing legislative proposals on data security and privacy and want to collaborate with the Senate Commerce Committee, Portman and Carper said Thursday. Thursday’s Senate Investigations Subcommittee hearing should help refine data security legislation, Portman told reporters. Earlier, he questioned Equifax, Marriott and the FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau chief.
Racial discrimination concerns “absolutely” need to be addressed in the data privacy debate, House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., told reporters after a hearing Wednesday. The tech industry should ensure that facial recognition and other technologies aren’t discriminating against minorities, she said.
Antitrust law isn't a “Swiss Army knife,” capable of solving a host of social ills like privacy concerns, Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Tuesday during a hearing on monopolies. But ranking member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said the increase in ownership concentration, particularly with tech, is leading to stagnating wages and other consumer harms.
The Senate Commerce Committee bipartisan working group’s goal is to negotiate privacy legislation differences “in the next month,” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told us Tuesday. The group includes Moran, Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. Staffers for the lawmakers are exploring privacy principles and specific legislative provisions, Moran, Schatz and Blumenthal told us. “There is no deadline, but I am encouraging, pushing that this be addressed, that we get to the point at which the senators can sit down and try to resolve any additional, remaining differences in the next month,” Moran said. The group is in more advanced discussions than “principles,” Wicker told us. It hasn’t reached the point where draft legislation is circulating, Blumenthal told us. Staff is weighing principles and “specific provisions,” he said, noting draft legislation can’t be written with principles. “There’s no deadline. We want to get it right,” Blumenthal told us. “We have to make it bipartisan. We have to get the Republican leadership.” Wicker was asked whether he has a privacy hearing in mind for April. “I don’t know that we’ve scheduled that, but we’re going to have lots more witnesses on data privacy,” he told reporters. The committee received criticism from privacy and consumer groups when an initial list for its first privacy hearing of the year featured an all-industry panel (see 1902220041).