Privacy – Media & Communications Policy

May 8, 2025May 7, 2025 By Michael O'Rielly

Reshaping the Commercial Privacy Narrative

In the great conundrum that is comprehensive commercial privacy legislation, congratulations are due. The good news is that the House Energy and Commerce Committee – led by Chairman Guthrie and Vice Chairman Joyce – has taken an appropriate step to regroup and formulate a sound, substantive foothold.

Through a Request for Information, the Committee is asking fundamental questions, rather than dictating answers, with the goal of eventually building a sustainable bill that can pass through the legislative process. That’s worthy of a tip of the hat and saying a short prayer for success.

July 24, 2024July 24, 2024 By Adonis Hoffman, Esq.

Big Tech and Principled Policy

As the election draws closer and the stakes become clearer, we should not forget the outsized influence of Big Tech in our country.

Not long ago, Facebook and Twitter emerged as key figures in U.S. elections when foreign propaganda, fake news, and objectionable content became a part of the process. Since then, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X have become embedded in the fabric of American society, affecting democracy itself.

November 21, 2023November 21, 2023 By Adonis Hoffman, Esq.

Why Self-Regulation Is Best for Artificial Intelligence

As the Biden Administration seeks to get its arms around the global phenomenon that is artificial intelligence, it should recognize a few realities.

First, artificial intelligence (AI) is more than an idea whose time has come – it is indelibly written into the fabric of our society. AI has grown from a theoretical, academic concept to an indispensable tool in just about every sector imaginable. It has become ubiquitous and universal, transforming commerce, culture, industry, and individual lives the world over, fostering a new era of innovation.

August 3, 2023August 23, 2023 By Stuart N. Brotman

Congress Needs Real Intelligence To Address Artificial Intelligence

In our age of hyper-partisan politics, one area that seems to be attracting notable bipartisan congressional concern, including various potential legislative approaches, is the real-time development and implementation of artificial intelligence. AI’s reach across many economic sectors and its effect on education, medical research, and national security poses complex legal, social, and moral questions that need to be addressed.

The Senate’s hearings in May clearly demonstrated that Democrats and Republicans were eager to learn more. As Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) noted, “We could be looking at one of the most significant technological innovations in human history.” At the other end of the political spectrum, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) clearly agreed with Hawley’s assessment regarding what is at stake. “The magnitude of the challenge … is substantial. I’m not sure that we respond quickly and with enough expertise to deal with it.”

March 30, 2023April 19, 2023 By Stuart N. Brotman

The Ticking Clock on Legally Restricting TikTok

Amidst the growing concern over TikTok’s massive availability in the United States, Congress now is ramping up its public scrutiny of that company, which is owned by China’s ByteDance. That foreign ownership has raised serious concerns regarding whether the company might constitute a national security threat that warrants an outright nationwide ban.

Such a ban, which has been advocated by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, raises First Amendment concerns that the government may not be able to justify under the constitutional strict scrutiny test of the Supreme Court that likely would apply in this case. It is unclear, and at this point unlikely, that a sufficient showing could be made to convince a federal court that the gravity of the national security risk in practice would justify restricting the ability of 150 million Americans to use the app for sending and receiving information.

November 8, 2022November 7, 2022 By Adonis Hoffman, Esq.

TikTok Is China’s Trojan Horse

People are easy to dupe. Give us something for free and we will open the door to just about anything in return, including our most sensitive family, health, and financial information.

The ancient Greeks knew something about the human psyche when they built a massive wooden horse and put it outside the enemy gates at Troy. Unsuspecting Trojans marveled at the gift and ushered it inside unexamined. Hidden in the horse were the Greek men of war who emerged to sack the city.

November 16, 2021January 25, 2022 By Stuart N. Brotman

Invest in Better Digital Privacy Protection Along With Faster Broadband Speeds

Among the key provisions of the trillion-dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (aka the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal) signed into law by President Joe Biden on Monday, Nov. 15, is $65 billion that will be dedicated to improving access to reliable high-speed Internet. This will include both increased availability of broadband to more than 30 million Americans who do not have minimally acceptable broadband speeds, and assistance in lowering prices for Internet services so that more households can afford better Internet service.

This new law aimed at closing the digital divide also should be used to close the digital privacy divide – the gap between more personal information being stored and shared and the level of privacy protection for online users that is provided to them.

July 7, 2021July 7, 2021 By Guest Author Gary Shapiro

Attacking Free Speech Doesn’t Just Hurt Tech: America Must Stay True to Its First Amendment Principles

The First Amendment is one of the cornerstone principles that define this nation. There is no such thing as freedom if we cannot speak freely. 

Today, however, our nation seems less interested in protecting free speech than at any time I can recall. Major advocates of free speech like the ACLU are wavering in their support of our First Amendment, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are fighting for the government to censor online speech.

April 7, 2021July 7, 2021 By Stuart N. Brotman

A Third-Way Approach to Regulating Facial Recognition Systems

The use of facial recognition systems powered by algorithms and software continues to raise controversy given their potential use by law enforcement and other government agencies. For over a decade, the Department of Commerce’s National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has evaluated facial recognition to identify and report gaps in its capabilities. Its most recent report in 2019 quantified the effect of age, race, and sex on facial recognition accuracy.

The greatest discrepancies that NIST measured were higher false-positive rates in women, African Americans, and particularly African American women. It noted, “False positives might present a security concern to the system owner, as they may allow access to impostors. False positives also might present privacy and civil rights and civil liberties concerns such as when matches result in additional questioning, surveillance, errors in benefit adjudication, or loss of liberty.”

March 30, 2021July 7, 2021 By Stuart N. Brotman

Digital COVID Vaccine Passports Should Be Antitrust-Exempt

Our nation’s momentum toward accelerated COVID-19 vaccine distribution is fully apparent. President Joe Biden has publicly urged state governments to make every adult in the U.S. eligible for a vaccine by May 1.

With this fast-track schedule, increasing attention now should be focused on how Americans will be able to digitally verify their vaccine completion status, not only for travel abroad but possibly even to get into local sporting events, theaters, hotels, or cruise ships.