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Targeting online privacy, US Congress sets a new tone with big tech

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  1. alyaza
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    this is the first serious, sustained push on the issue i think we've ever seen congress take on this as a general matter (and not just a matter of protecting children) and, for once, it's a fairly...

    this is the first serious, sustained push on the issue i think we've ever seen congress take on this as a general matter (and not just a matter of protecting children) and, for once, it's a fairly bipartisan issue:

    Across the Capitol, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, freshman Sen. Josh Hawley grilled Google's senior privacy counsel on the company's location tracking policy for its Android mobile operating system, noting that users of Android phones can't turn off the location-tracking function.
    Do you think an average consumer who uses your products fully understands Google builds a profile about her, tracks where she goes to work, tracks where her boyfriend lives, tracks where she goes to church, tracks when she goes to the doctor?" the Missouri Republican asked Will DeVries. "Do you think that an average consumer would anticipate that?"

    Hawley — along with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. — introduced legislation to protect the online privacy of minors. The measure, according to a press release from the senators, would prohibit "internet companies from collecting personal and location information from anyone under 13 without parental consent and from anyone 13- to 15-years old without the user's consent."
    It's one of a number of bills expected to be introduced by lawmakers from both parties and chambers in the coming months.

    2 votes