Long-anticipated bills by Vermont state Rep. Monique Priestly (D) on comprehensive data privacy (H-208), an age-appropriate design code (H-210) and data broker deletion requirements (H-211) formally entered the legislature on Wednesday. The 2025 privacy bill “contains a number of adjustments that address concerns from stakeholders, including members of the business community, while maintaining the core consumer protections expected by Vermonters,” said an H-208 summary.
The federal government’s failure to act on children and teens’ online safety and privacy was called out in a Thursday hearing in Washington state's Senate Business Committee. Supporters of a bipartisan bill to protect minors online said that job is now up to the states.
In response Feb. 10 to a steel labor union’s December motion for judgment (see 2412110059), the U.S. defended a Commerce Department scope ruling that temporary-use tires weren’t subject to antidumping duties on passenger vehicle and light truck tires from Taiwan, saying the union hadn’t exhausted its administrative remedies (United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union v. United States, CIT # 24-00165).
The European Commission withdrew two controversial pieces of legislation from its 2025 work program, bringing cheers Wednesday from the tech sector as a consumer group jeered.
Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) warned New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) that a health data privacy bill the legislature approved could "create additional, and potentially unintended, privacy risks for individuals seeking to use health and wellness services in New York.”
The Utah Senate approved an app store age-verification bill Monday. State senators voted 24-1 to send SB-142 to the House; Sen. Heidi Balderree (R) voted no.
The FCC doesn’t have as much power as Chairman Brendan Carr thinks it does and is likely to be corrected by the courts, former FCC Chief Counsel Robert Corn-Revere wrote in a column for the Columbia Journalism Review last week. Framed as a letter to Carr, the column is called “A Plea for Institutional Modesty.” Now chief counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Corn-Revere served under acting FCC Commissioner James Quello, a moderate Democrat. “If I were your adviser, this is not how I would want history to remember you,” Corn-Revere wrote, calling Carr’s first weeks as chairman “jarring” when compared with his past statements as a commissioner on free speech and the role of the FCC. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the FCC’s rules don’t give it authority over the types of programming broadcasters can offer, Corn-Revere noted. “In 2025, any aggressive action by the FCC to regulate broadcast programming would provide an opportunity to challenge whatever remains of the public interest standard as a reason to treat broadcasters differently from other media,” he said. “FCC meddling in editorial decisions regarding political coverage and news judgment would provide an easy case for limiting the FCC’s authority.” Corn-Revere also wrote that Carr can’t get around the limits on FCC authority by exerting informal pressure on entities or “jawboning.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit “is keenly aware that the FCC can abuse its authority in this way and has limited ‘raised eyebrow’ tactics in past cases,” he said, adding that SCOTUS has also recently reaffirmed that government officials violate the First Amendment by using threats to restrict speech. “Bottom line, given your position, writing threatening letters may be enough to get you into constitutional hot water.” Governmental officials “who have tried to use their power to muzzle the press for short-term political gain have not been treated well by history.” You swore an oath "to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States, and you know very well how these things work. You might at least consider not actively reinforcing uninformed social media rants.” The FCC didn’t comment.
The Competitive Carriers Association challenged parts of the FCC’s 5G Fund order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, seeking changes to the rules the agency adopted under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2408290041). Current Chairman Brendan Carr voted against the order, arguing that the fund should be launched only after the BEAD program plays out and money is awarded. CCA and the Rural Wireless Association voiced concerns when the order was approved in August.
Recently fired Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board member Travis LeBlanc said Tuesday he’s considering legal action against the Trump administration for removing him three years before his term expired (see 2501300049).
The Computer & Communications Industry Association raised concerns Friday about reports that the U.K. government has ordered Apple to create a backdoor in its devices, giving security services access to users’ encrypted Apple files worldwide. The order was apparently issued under the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Act, CCIA said. “As the recent Salt Typhoon breach makes clear, end-to-end encryption may be the only safeguard standing between Americans' sensitive personal and business data and foreign adversaries,” said CCIA President and CEO Matt Schruers: “Decisions about Americans' privacy and security should be made in America, in an open and transparent fashion, not through secret orders from abroad requiring keys be left under doormats.” Apple didn't comment.