The Donald Trump administration’s decision to remove all members of the Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) raises questions for the wireless industry, since the board was developing a report on the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks (see 2412050044), industry experts said. China's Ministry of State Security reportedly launched the attacks. The dismissal came as acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman removed all members of departmental advisory boards as the administration cleaned house. “This is a case of out with the old, in with the new,” Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, told us. “Terminating the CSRB is a way ... Trump's team" can remove "any potential [Joe] Biden holdovers” and seems like “part of a broader reset of advisory committees for the new administration.” Castro predicted that federal law enforcement will pursue an investigation into Salt Typhoon and work with the private sector on it, “but CSRB won't be the lead vehicle for this activity in the short term.” The CSRB was created as part of a Biden executive order aimed at strengthening U.S. cybersecurity. CSRB is part of DHS, and the department’s “leadership, and its actions came under heavy criticism by then-candidate Trump and the GOP,” John Strand of Strand Consult said in an email. “There are legitimate issues of how to handle Salt Typhoon,” he said. “That Salt Typhoon even happened is a wake-up call, and it demands a top-to-bottom review of security and likely a reboot of the national cybersecurity establishment, which is falling short of expectations.” “Disappointing that the CSRB was disbanded, especially given their work looking into salt typhoon,” Daniel Cuthbert, a London-based cybersecurity expert, said on X. “That report would have been vitally important for not just the US but many others.”
A federal district court judge seemed skeptical of several tech industry arguments against California’s 2022 Age-Appropriate Design Code Act at oral argument Thursday. However, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Judge Beth Freeman also asked if she should wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to possibly rule on age-verification mandates in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton.
The regulatory freeze ordered by President Donald Trump could potentially affect the Biden’s administration’s pending rule on children’s privacy.
U.S. Supreme Court justices peppered both sides with questions on Tuesday as the court heard McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case with broad implications for the FCC and other agencies. Lawyers representing TCPA defendants fear that a decision overruling the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could mean any district court might decide whether a regulatory action is valid, leading to a bonanza for TCPA plaintiffs, who could seek alternative interpretations in different courts (see 2410170015).
New York state health data privacy legislation could soon hit the governor’s desk after the Assembly and Senate quickly passed bills this week. Despite Republican opposition on the Assembly floor Wednesday, members voted 95-41 to pass S-929, the Senate version that was substituted forA-2141. The effectively same bills have been compared to Washington state’s My Health My Data law. The Senate passed S-929 on Tuesday after bypassing its committee process (see 2501210068). Republicans and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) raised concerns with the legislation, which is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok, citing Congress’ “well-supported national security concerns.”
Eight former FCC commissioners filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court last week urging the justices to overturn the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating part of the USF program. Meanwhile, likely Senate Communications Subcommittee leaders Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., led an amicus brief with 27 other House and Senate lawmakers defending the funding mechanism.
The New York Senate voted 49-10 Tuesday to approve a sweeping health privacy bill (S-929) similar to Washington state’s My Health My Data law.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, has reintroduced a bill to impose a blanket 10% additional tariff on all imports, in line with President-elect Donald Trump's campaign promises.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr slammed the FCC’s forthcoming enforcement action in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks, which China's Ministry of State Security allegedly perpetrated. Industry officials note that the disagreement between Carr, who takes the FCC's helm next week, and departing Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel points in part to a long-standing divide between FCC Republicans and Democrats about the agency's role in cybersecurity.