Overnight Tech: Groups grade 2016 candidates on tech issues

LEDE: The Senate Commerce Committee convened a mostly-smooth hearing on self-driving cars Tuesday afternoon, but lawmakers expressed worries and grilled witnesses about the prospect of hacked vehicles.

Google’s Chris Urmson called for Congress to give the federal government more authority over the space, as we reported last night. The companies dread a patchwork of different state laws governing the vehicles. “We propose that Congress move swiftly to provide the Secretary of Transportation with targeted new authority to approve life-saving safety innovations,” Urmson said.

In general, members of the committee seemed excited by the potential of the technology, with ranking member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) giddily recounting his ride in an autonomous Tesla. But some raised concerns about both the security of cars from cyber attacks and how consumer data would be protected from misuse.

{mosads}”You can imagine in this world of cybersecurity and cyber attacks, imagine what would happen to autonomous vehicles to get hacked while they’re out on the road,” said Nelson said. “One small defect could end up in a massive safety crisis.”

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) questioned witnesses on whether they would support mandatory, baseline standards on both privacy and security. For the most part, witnesses avoided taking a firm stance.

“May I respectfully suggest that the answer to the question, should there be mandatory safety and privacy standards, is yes,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “And I didn’t hear that from all of the witnesses. I heard answers that basically implied maybe there should be.”

2016 REPORT CARDS: Startup advocacy group Engine is out with their report card on how the remaining presidential candidates stack up on tech issues. Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) lead the pack with a B+ and a B, respectively. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump gets the worst marks, earning an F overall. “When he has talked about tech issues, he has done so in the only way he knows how: brashly and inaccurately,” the group said. The grades reflect scores in four categories: privacy and security, intellectual property, education, talent and workforce and broadband infrastructure and access.

And Free Press, a consumer advocate, dropped its own voter guide on Monday through its Free Press Action Fund. Though the group doesn’t provide letter grades, it does tally up candidates’ positions as positive, waffling, harmful or unknown. Sanders came away with the most “positive” ratings for his positions on issues like mass surveillance and Internet censorship.

SOME CAMPAIGN FINANCE DATA IS A SEARCH AWAY: For months, Google has been posting information about presidential candidates directly in their search results — part of an aggressive effort to increase its involvement in the campaign cycle. That now includes campaign finance data, courtesy of the good folks at the Center for Responsible Politics. Users can view a graph showing how much each candidate has raised and where it’s coming from.

WHEELER SPEAKS OUT AGAINST INTERNET RATE BILL: In a letter to Congress on Monday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said explicitly that a GOP bill aimed at barring the agency from regulating the rates charged for Internet access “is not” consistent with his past statements. In some of his first public comments on the bill, he said the bill “would introduce significant uncertainty into the commission’s ability” to enforce new net neutrality rules and other FCC authority. The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the bill Tuesday on a party-line vote, which included some amendments.

WILL HELP REPUBLICANS DEVELOP OTHER PROPOSAL: During testimony at a House appropriations hearing, Wheeler promised lawmakers that his staff would help with proposed legislation. He has said he has no problem with legislation that would codify steps the FCC has already taken to avoid regulating Internet rates.

MOODY’S SAYS PRIVACY RULES COULD HANDICAP ISPs: The FCC’s proposed rules to regulate the privacy practice of Internet service providers will “severely handicap” the industry’s ability to compete with other digital advertisers like Facebook and Google, according to a Moody’s analysis reported by Reuters. The ratings agency classified the rules as a long-term risk to the industry.

GOOGLE RELEASING STATS ON ENCRYPTION: Google is adding a new category to its voluntary transparency reports to detail how much of its services and others around the web are encrypted. Google said about 75 percent of requests to its servers used encrypted connections. However, that excludes YouTube, which would take up a large portion. The new effort is meant to “hold ourselves accountable and encourage others to encrypt.”

IRS MAKES CHANGES FOR ON-DEMAND WORKERS: The IRS announced on Tuesday that they will update publications and their website to better advise workers participating in the on-demand economy. The changes come in response to a request from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). More information about the changes is here.

ON TAP:

At 11 a.m., a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee holds a hearing on digital currencies.

At 2:30 p.m., the Open Technology Institute hosts a discussion on Lifeline reforms featuring the FCC’s Gigi Sohn and White House official R. David Edelman.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to expand the public’s access to government records, after a year of delay.

Lawmakers used a hearing on self-driving cars Tuesday to ask whether the much-hyped vehicles would be vulnerable to hacking.

More than two-dozen business groups are calling for the House Judiciary Committee to vote on legislation that would allow states to collect existing sales taxes on their residents’ purchases from out-of-state online retailers.

No compromise was in sight Tuesday on a GOP-backed bill meant to bar the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from regulating the rates that Internet providers charge for service.

The Federal Communications Commission took a step Monday to clarify that automated robocalls for tele-town halls do not violate the law.

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