“People should have access to their own health data,” said Barbara Evans, director of the University of Houston Law Center’s Center on Biotechnology and Law, during a Health Privacy Summit Thursday. “Clouds of data are generated about us and the federal government did well regulating an individual’s right to access the data with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act,” but now large amounts of data that are generated by items like wearables aren't protected by HIPAA, Evans said. There needs to be a HIPAA-equivalent for that data, she said. It’s not going to be too long before patients have far more information than any particular provider due to wearables and other devices that contain sensors like cellphones, said Mark Scrimshire, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The government should step in and ensure that data is not used against us, Scrimshire said.

NCTA representatives said they were much more confident Wednesday of ultimately overturning the FCC’s net neutrality and broadband reclassification order than they were of securing a court stay pending further review. They also suggested they were unlikely to appeal if a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denies their stay request.

NCTA representatives said they were much more confident Wednesday of ultimately overturning the FCC’s net neutrality and broadband reclassification order than they were of securing a court stay pending further review. They also suggested they were unlikely to appeal if a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denies their stay request.

The FCC has repeatedly said the way it levies fees on the companies it regulates needs to change, but the new fee structures proposed for FY 2015 had plenty of critics. In the proposed fee structure in the FY 2015 rulemaking notice on docket 15-121 released May 21 (see 1505220050), the FCC said it expects to raise nearly $340 million in regulatory fees for the fiscal year. The agency proposed charging direct broadcast satellite (DBS) operators 12 cents a year per subscriber, while simultaneously cutting what cable and IPTV operators pay from $1.01 per subscriber to 95 cents. That was opposed by DBS operators, who argued in filings that the cost of regulating them is far less than the cost of regulating cable operators, and the FCC lacks the regulatory power to suddenly institute new regulatory fees.

Nearly seven years after the initial FCC order opening the TV white spaces, there are by NAB’s count fewer than 1,000 TV white spaces (TVWS) devices in play. Some industry officials say the slow growth of the TV white spaces industry shows the uncertainty that swirls around the use of the white spaces as the FCC moves toward a TV incentive auction next year. The November 2008 order came before any of the current commissioners were members of the agency, and only after years of tests by the FCC.

Nearly seven years after the initial FCC order opening the TV white spaces, there are by NAB’s count fewer than 1,000 TV white spaces (TVWS) devices in play. Some industry officials say the slow growth of the TV white spaces industry shows the uncertainty that swirls around the use of the white spaces as the FCC moves toward a TV incentive auction next year. The November 2008 order came before any of the current commissioners were members of the agency, and only after years of tests by the FCC.

The Obama administration’s Broadband Opportunity Council later this year could help improve wide-ranging government efforts to expand high-speed Internet access to Americans, but it should follow up annually to ensure the initiatives are sustained, panelists said at an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation event Friday. Although the federal government can be a catalyst, localities will have to do much heavy lifting to remove barriers to investment, with the private sector providing most of the capital, they said. The BOC is an inter-agency group assigned by President Barack Obama to make recommendations by Aug. 20 to spur broadband deployment and adoption. Comments to the group are due by June 10.

Nearly seven years after the initial FCC order opening the TV white spaces, there are by NAB’s count fewer than 1,000 TV white spaces (TVWS) devices in play. Some industry officials say the slow growth of the TV white spaces industry shows the uncertainty that swirls around the use of the white spaces as the FCC moves toward a TV incentive auction next year. The November 2008 order came before any of the current commissioners were members of the agency, and only after years of tests by the FCC.

The New Jersey Office of Attorney General dropped its investigation of Tidbit, said a consent order filed Tuesday in Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey. Tidbit was a project of four Massachusetts Institute of Technology students who developed the software for a hackathon in November 2013. The software was envisioned as a substitute for website advertisements, allowing sites to instead monetize visits by using visitors’ computers to mine for bitcoins. Tidbit’s developer is prohibited from accessing or attempting to access New Jerseyans’ computers without clearly and conspicuously notifying the owners and obtaining their verifiable consent, the order said. The consent order also includes a $25,000 settlement that will be suspended and automatically vacated within two years, provided the software developer complies with the settlement terms. “We do not believe Tidbit was created for the purpose of invading privacy,” said Division of Consumer Affairs Acting Director Steve Lee in a news release. “However, this potentially invasive software raised significant questions about user privacy and the ability to gain access to and potentially damage privately owned computers without the owners’ knowledge and consent. As privacy threats become more and more sophisticated, State law requires us to protect the interests and safety of New Jersey consumers.”

The New Jersey Office of Attorney General dropped its investigation of Tidbit, said a consent order filed Tuesday in Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey. Tidbit was a project of four Massachusetts Institute of Technology students who developed the software for a hackathon in November 2013. The software was envisioned as a substitute for website advertisements, allowing sites to instead monetize visits by using visitors’ computers to mine for bitcoins. Tidbit’s developer is prohibited from accessing or attempting to access New Jerseyans’ computers without clearly and conspicuously notifying the owners and obtaining their verifiable consent, the order said. The consent order also includes a $25,000 settlement that will be suspended and automatically vacated within two years, provided the software developer complies with the settlement terms. “We do not believe Tidbit was created for the purpose of invading privacy,” said Division of Consumer Affairs Acting Director Steve Lee in a news release. “However, this potentially invasive software raised significant questions about user privacy and the ability to gain access to and potentially damage privately owned computers without the owners’ knowledge and consent. As privacy threats become more and more sophisticated, State law requires us to protect the interests and safety of New Jersey consumers.”