Joint legislation reauthorizing and amending Section 702 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Authority is “soon” to be released by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a Wyden aide told us. There are reports a closed markup is planned of a separate bipartisan bill in the Senate Intelligence Committee. Privacy groups are pressuring lawmakers to think carefully about changes to existing law. House Judiciary’s USA Liberty Act (HR-3989) “falls short,” blogged Rainey Reitman, activism director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. EFF would like to see a new bill prevent “backdoor searching” when domestic law enforcement entities query data collected by NSA for criminal investigations without a warrant from a judge. The bill doesn’t include sufficient transparency and oversight, and “won’t curtail the NSA’s practices of collecting data on innocent people,” Reitman said: HR-3989 doesn’t require data to be purged “by a fixed deadline” except when it's determined a communication has no foreign intelligence value, opening the possibility that “rogue government employees” could tap into the data. American Enterprise Institute scholar Claude Barfield challenged parties with disparate views to consider whether their positions have merit, blogging that House Judiciary Committee leaders should address the loophole concerns that privacy groups raised. The backdoor loophole is a continuing concern, Michelle Richardson, Center for Democracy & Technology Freedom, Security, and Technology Project deputy director, told us.

No world economy raised the three red flags necessary to trigger increased U.S. bilateral engagement and possible sanctions to counter unfair currency manipulation through procedures outlined by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA), according to a Treasury report to Congress on the foreign exchange policies of major U.S. trading partners, released Oct. 17. However, Treasury has continued naming China, Japan, Korea, Germany and Switzerland on the "monitoring list." Treasury removed Taiwan from the monitoring list after the nation met only one out of three criteria -- a material account surplus -- for two consecutive reports. Countries meeting two out of all three criteria necessary to warrant classification as a currency manipulator are placed on the monitoring list.

States are raising concerns about NTIA FirstNet funding level determinations developed for each state. The FLDs released last month laid out the amount of construction grant money a state or territory could receive if it opts out of the national network. Officials from Colorado and Washington, deciding whether to opt out, told us they believe the FLDs didn’t properly account for federal land such as national parks. FirstNet started the 90-day clock for governors to opt out after NTIA delivered the FLDs Sept. 29 (see 1709290040).

Tessera Technologies’ request at the International Trade Commission for an exclusion order against “potentially all” Samsung smartphones and tablets is so overly “broad” that it would “undoubtedly result in massive unmet demand across several, distinct product types,” Samsung said in a letter (login required) filed Thursday in docket 3262 on the public-interest implications of Tessera’s complaint.

Tech allies are wary of some nations' privacy endeavors and data localization, and Congress can play a role, a House Digital Trade Subcommittee heard Thursday. Keeping data flowing across borders benefits jobs and economic growth, tech industry officials testified, as expected (see 1710110045). Officials pressed lawmakers to pursue favorable digital trade policies and urge the administration to work with governments on North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said the hearing is a “jumping-off point for a closer examination” of non-tariff trade issues in months to come. “Congress can play a significant role in supporting the people and businesses that depend on the free and open flow of data,” Latta said. He criticized actions some U.S. trading partners took to restrict cross-border data flows through requirements to localize data storage, production and facilities, raising costs for U.S. businesses. Such restrictions are “counterproductive to data security and privacy,” said ranking member Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. Differences among countries “create challenges,” she said. The U.S. should balance between constructing policies that remove harmful barriers and those protecting privacy and security where “current law is lacking,” Schakowsky said, citing Equifax's breach and urging Congress to compel more answers (see 1710120016). Data flow across borders is a big, new policy concern, said BSA|The Software Alliance CEO Victoria Espinel. “NAFTA is a good place to start,” she said, urging the administration to work broadly with countries around the world to “set ground rules on international data.” Information Technology Industry Council President Dean Garfield said Congress can provide the “kinds of oversight and support” to create policies supporting growth in the sector. He cited a recent Information Technology and Innovation Foundation study that said EU states "differ significantly" on how much they used data to illustrate the uneven perspectives among trading partners. Requiring some data be stored locally is counterproductive to open borders, and harmful to companies that can’t afford the costs, ACT|The App Association President Morgan Reed said. “Companies will opt out of global opportunities if there are restrictions.” Reed praised the Privacy Shield framework (see 1709210011) as a workable cross-border policy, saying his members “have undertaken significant effort” to comply.

Tech allies are wary of some nations' privacy endeavors and data localization, and Congress can play a role, a House Digital Trade Subcommittee heard Thursday. Keeping data flowing across borders benefits jobs and economic growth, tech industry officials testified, as expected (see 1710110045). Officials pressed lawmakers to pursue favorable digital trade policies and urge the administration to work with governments on North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said the hearing is a “jumping-off point for a closer examination” of non-tariff trade issues in months to come. “Congress can play a significant role in supporting the people and businesses that depend on the free and open flow of data,” Latta said. He criticized actions some U.S. trading partners took to restrict cross-border data flows through requirements to localize data storage, production and facilities, raising costs for U.S. businesses. Such restrictions are “counterproductive to data security and privacy,” said ranking member Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. Differences among countries “create challenges,” she said. The U.S. should balance between constructing policies that remove harmful barriers and those protecting privacy and security where “current law is lacking,” Schakowsky said, citing Equifax's breach and urging Congress to compel more answers (see 1710120016). Data flow across borders is a big, new policy concern, said BSA|The Software Alliance CEO Victoria Espinel. “NAFTA is a good place to start,” she said, urging the administration to work broadly with countries around the world to “set ground rules on international data.” Information Technology Industry Council President Dean Garfield said Congress can provide the “kinds of oversight and support” to create policies supporting growth in the sector. He cited a recent Information Technology and Innovation Foundation study that said EU states "differ significantly" on how much they used data to illustrate the uneven perspectives among trading partners. Requiring some data be stored locally is counterproductive to open borders, and harmful to companies that can’t afford the costs, ACT|The App Association President Morgan Reed said. “Companies will opt out of global opportunities if there are restrictions.” Reed praised the Privacy Shield framework (see 1709210011) as a workable cross-border policy, saying his members “have undertaken significant effort” to comply.

Tech allies are wary of some nations' privacy endeavors and data localization, and Congress can play a role, a House Digital Trade Subcommittee heard Thursday. Keeping data flowing across borders benefits jobs and economic growth, tech industry officials testified, as expected (see 1710110045). Officials pressed lawmakers to pursue favorable digital trade policies and urge the administration to work with governments on North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said the hearing is a “jumping-off point for a closer examination” of non-tariff trade issues in months to come. “Congress can play a significant role in supporting the people and businesses that depend on the free and open flow of data,” Latta said. He criticized actions some U.S. trading partners took to restrict cross-border data flows through requirements to localize data storage, production and facilities, raising costs for U.S. businesses. Such restrictions are “counterproductive to data security and privacy,” said ranking member Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. Differences among countries “create challenges,” she said. The U.S. should balance between constructing policies that remove harmful barriers and those protecting privacy and security where “current law is lacking,” Schakowsky said, citing Equifax's breach and urging Congress to compel more answers (see 1710120016). Data flow across borders is a big, new policy concern, said BSA|The Software Alliance CEO Victoria Espinel. “NAFTA is a good place to start,” she said, urging the administration to work broadly with countries around the world to “set ground rules on international data.” Information Technology Industry Council President Dean Garfield said Congress can provide the “kinds of oversight and support” to create policies supporting growth in the sector. He cited a recent Information Technology and Innovation Foundation study that said EU states "differ significantly" on how much they used data to illustrate the uneven perspectives among trading partners. Requiring some data be stored locally is counterproductive to open borders, and harmful to companies that can’t afford the costs, ACT|The App Association President Morgan Reed said. “Companies will opt out of global opportunities if there are restrictions.” Reed praised the Privacy Shield framework (see 1709210011) as a workable cross-border policy, saying his members “have undertaken significant effort” to comply.

Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., expects Congress to view favorably national data breach notification legislation that he introduced after Equifax announced personal information of 145.5 million Americans was compromised. “It’s ripe to be taken up and I’m going to keep pushing it,” he told us Wednesday after an IoT event. Earlier, Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who also spoke at the event, told us more information is needed about the Equifax breach before approving any legislation, as well as about an IRS contract recently awarded to the credit monitoring agency.

Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., expects Congress to view favorably national data breach notification legislation that he introduced after Equifax announced personal information of 145.5 million Americans was compromised. “It’s ripe to be taken up and I’m going to keep pushing it,” he told us Wednesday after an IoT event. Earlier, Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who also spoke at the event, told us more information is needed about the Equifax breach before approving any legislation, as well as about an IRS contract recently awarded to the credit monitoring agency.

Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., expects Congress to view favorably national data breach notification legislation that he introduced after Equifax announced personal information of 145.5 million Americans was compromised. “It’s ripe to be taken up and I’m going to keep pushing it,” he told us Wednesday after an IoT event. Earlier, Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who also spoke at the event, told us more information is needed about the Equifax breach before approving any legislation, as well as about an IRS contract recently awarded to the credit monitoring agency.