As the gateway to the internet, broadband providers have access to massive amounts of data about internet users’ browsing activities, communications, and preferences. This data can reveal sensitive personal information. The FCC has proposed a strong set of rules for broadband providers that will allow for innovation while giving consumers necessary and meaningful choice as to how their information is used. These rules should not be weakened.
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CDT’s Tech Talk is a podcast where we dish on tech and Internet policy, while also explaining what these policies mean to our daily lives. In this episode we talk about good digital parenting and share insights on nonprofit fundraising.
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Last week, the Sixth Circuit issued its decision in Doe v. Snyder, a case challenging state sex offender registry requirements in which CDT participated as amici. We argued that Michigan’s strict requirements for registrants to disclose their online identifiers to the authorities violated their First Amendment rights to speak without permission and self-identification. We won, in a sense: the federal court of appeals struck down Michigan’s registry law as an unconstitutional retroactive punishment, in violation of the Ex Post Facto clause.
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Your race is among many characteristics that can be inferred and used to serve you personalized content. Recent research by CDT and a team at the University of California Berkeley show that this practice continues to raise concerns with the public. We asked 748 people how they felt about online personalization based on a variety of characteristics, and personalization based on race achieved the most consistently negative results.
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CDT’s Tech Talk is a podcast where we dish on tech and Internet policy, while also explaining what these policies mean to our daily lives. In this episode we talk with the co-founder of the LGBT Technology Partnership and Institute and discuss a controversial proposal from DHS.
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DHS recently issued a proposal to ask tourists on visa waivers to share their “online presence” on the I-94W and the online application for the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, including the social networks they use and their corresponding “identifiers”—their handles or account names. CDT thinks this is a bad idea and is planning to file public comments with U.S. Customs and Border Protection explaining why.
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In 2015 and 2016, CDT made a splash at SXSW, but we think the third time is the charm. We have five great panels in store for Austin in 2017, but we need your help to get us there. The PanelPicker is now open through September 2 — vote for CDT! Here are our submissions.
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There are a number of pressing issues in autonomous vehicle policy. First, the regulation of semi-autonomous cars and what standards manufacturers should be held to. Second, the concept of including black boxes in cars, and dealing with other privacy-related issues arising from the development of self-driving cars. And finally, the conversation around developing infrastructure to facilitate the growth of autonomous cars.
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How should the US government deal with the very serious threats posed by botnets? Senators Whitehouse (D-RI), Graham (R-SC), and Blumenthal (D-CT) believe a solution is their Botnet Prevention Act, which was introduced in May. While much of the bill may sound reasonable at first pass, it contains a number of provisions that pose cybersecurity and privacy risks.
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As we look forward to our next twenty years, we must ask ourselves: Are we achieving our goal of promoting an empowering internet that truly enables individual users to speak and be heard, to exercise control over their online identity, and to connect with one another in pursuit of a sense of belonging and community? This year, CDT is launching a long-term focus on these and other questions whose common theme is “Community” online.
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