Members of the House Research and Technology Subcommittee sought to identify the main regulatory, market and legislative barriers to the deployment and adoption of mobile health applications, during a hearing Wednesday, and questioned witnesses on cybersecurity and privacy concerns for the emerging technology. Witnesses touted the usefulness of mobile health apps, and urged updates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and government support of industry best practices for health data privacy and security.
Members of the House Research and Technology Subcommittee sought to identify the main regulatory, market and legislative barriers to the deployment and adoption of mobile health applications, during a hearing Wednesday, and questioned witnesses on cybersecurity and privacy concerns for the emerging technology. Witnesses touted the usefulness of mobile health apps, and urged updates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and government support of industry best practices for health data privacy and security.
Documents detailing Privacy Shield, safe harbor's successor agreement for trans-Atlantic personal data flows, emerged Monday from the European Commission. EU data protection authorities (DPAs) in the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party will now analyze the text "with great attention" before finalizing a draft opinion to be approved at an April 12-13 plenary meeting, the WP said Monday. U.S. bulk data collection is likely to remain a key concern for DPAs, said Hogan Lovells (London) privacy attorney Eduardo Ustaran. Max Schrems, whose challenge in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) led to the abolition of safe harbor, predicted further lawsuits. Industry groups welcomed the text; privacy and consumer rights advocates bashed it.
Documents detailing Privacy Shield, safe harbor's successor agreement for trans-Atlantic personal data flows, emerged Monday from the European Commission. EU data protection authorities (DPAs) in the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party will now analyze the text "with great attention" before finalizing a draft opinion to be approved at an April 12-13 plenary meeting, the WP said Monday. U.S. bulk data collection is likely to remain a key concern for DPAs, said Hogan Lovells (London) privacy attorney Eduardo Ustaran. Max Schrems, whose challenge in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) led to the abolition of safe harbor, predicted further lawsuits. Industry groups welcomed the text; privacy and consumer rights advocates bashed it.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler sees “useful tools” in emergency communications legislation from House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Wheeler told Pallone in a Feb. 17 letter the agency released Friday. Wheeler told Pallone of the “successful performance of the nation’s wireless infrastructure during Winter Storm Jonas” in late January and said that according to carriers’ outage reports, fewer than 27,000 customers lost wireless service. Wheeler cited “surprisingly few outages” that suggested “increased” resiliency efforts from the carriers. “I hope in the coming weeks you and I may work together on initiatives with the wireless industry and other stakeholders, including state and local governments, public safety and consumers, to increase their disaster resiliency and ensure the public is protected in times of emergency,” Wheeler told Pallone.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler sees “useful tools” in emergency communications legislation from House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Wheeler told Pallone in a Feb. 17 letter the agency released Friday. Wheeler told Pallone of the “successful performance of the nation’s wireless infrastructure during Winter Storm Jonas” in late January and said that according to carriers’ outage reports, fewer than 27,000 customers lost wireless service. Wheeler cited “surprisingly few outages” that suggested “increased” resiliency efforts from the carriers. “I hope in the coming weeks you and I may work together on initiatives with the wireless industry and other stakeholders, including state and local governments, public safety and consumers, to increase their disaster resiliency and ensure the public is protected in times of emergency,” Wheeler told Pallone.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and its Integrated Public Alert and Warning System division are working toward a national test of the emergency alert system to take place Sept. 28, said an FCC ex parte filing documenting Monday's 2016 EAS forum and posted Wednesday in docket 15-91. The forum included representatives of state broadcasting associations and Public Safety Bureau staff including Chief David Simpson. The National Weather Service is close to being able to receive non-weather emergency alerts, the filing said. The NWS could do such alerts now, but is concerned about duplicate EAS alerts, the filing said. At the forum, Simpson discussed the recent FCC NPRM on improving EAS, and told the group that the proposed rules had the support of all four regular commissioners. The forum also discussed further modifications to state EAS boards, and a multilingual EAS pilot program.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Feb. 29 will enact a final rule making routine updates to the Code of Federal Regulations legal authority citations in the National Security Industrial Base Regulations (NSBIR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), BIS said (here). The changes will reflect recent editorial reclassifications in the United States Code, the removal of certain statutory authorities, continuation of an emergency declared through executive order, and minor stylistic edits, BIS said. The bureau is not accepting public comments, as it legally found “good cause” to waive prior notice and public comment requirements, in large part because the revisions “are not substantive,” BIS said.
House Commerce Committee lawmakers scored a bipartisan deal on the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act (HR-4596) ahead of its Thursday full committee vote, they confirmed Wednesday. The measure would codify the exemption of small businesses from the FCC net neutrality order’s enhanced transparency requirements and cleared the subcommittee earlier this month in a partisan vote, with Democrats objecting to how the original bill defined a small business (see 1602110050). Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., had pledged to negotiate following the subcommittee markup and unveiled a revamped version this week.
House Commerce Committee lawmakers scored a bipartisan deal on the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act (HR-4596) ahead of its Thursday full committee vote, they confirmed Wednesday. The measure would codify the exemption of small businesses from the FCC net neutrality order’s enhanced transparency requirements and cleared the subcommittee earlier this month in a partisan vote, with Democrats objecting to how the original bill defined a small business (see 1602110050). Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., had pledged to negotiate following the subcommittee markup and unveiled a revamped version this week.