Overnight Tech: House GOP asks companies for input on net neutrality legislation | Charter declines Sprint deal | Group wants probe into Google shopping tool | Ex-Obama adviser joins Lyft board

HOUSE CHAIRMAN TALKING NET NEUTRALITY BILL: Republican lawmakers are pressing a group of tech and telecom companies to provide input on a possible net neutrality bill after the firms missed a deadline to agree to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the issue.

In a follow up, Robin Colwell, the chief counsel for the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on technology, sent an email obtained by The Hill to eight companies that had been invited to testify in a Sept. 7 hearing.

Colwell asked the companies to weigh in on what they’d like to see from legislation, which is being pushed by Republicans as a replacement to the Obama-era rules, currently being repealed by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai.

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“As you are aware, [Commerce] Chairman [Greg] Walden [R-Ore.] continues to be interested in moving forward on a bipartisan legislative solution to the longstanding issue of net neutrality,” Colwell wrote.

“Since we all basically agree on the fundamental principles and the need to provide certainty for all participants in the internet economy, he believes we are close to reaching an agreement. Toward that end, he has asked us to manage and execute a process that will allow him to quickly determine the current likelihood of forming a broad coalition of support for any particular set of deal terms.”

Colwell asked that the companies come to an Aug. 7 meeting so that Walden could give feedback on any proposals made.

The new request comes after the committee extended a Monday deadline for the eight companies to agree to testify before the committee on net neutrality.

Read more here.

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CHARTER DOESN’T WANT SOFTBANK MERGER: Telecommunications giant Charter Communications says it is not interested in a merger with Softbank, the parent company of Sprint.

On Monday, Charter confirmed to The Hill that it does not want to merge with the multibillion-dollar Japanese company, which floated a deal which would combine Sprint and Charter.

“We understand why a deal is attractive for Softbank, but Charter has no interest in acquiring Sprint,” a Charter spokesperson told The Hill, after the Wall Street Journal first reported the company had no interest in the deal.

According to reports, SoftBank is still exploring a hostile takeover of Charter. If successful, it would shake up the telecommunications landscape.

Charter is currently valued at $100 billion. Softbank, which already owns Sprint, the fourth-largest U.S. telecommunications provider by subscribers, has a market capitalization of almost $89 billion.

Read more here.

GROUP URGES FTC TO INVESTIGATE GOOGLE: A privacy watchdog group has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate how Google analyzes credit card data to track consumers’ offline shopping habits.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) says that Google has not been forthcoming about the privacy safeguards in its program and wrote in its complaint that the opt-out process for consumers is “burdensome, opaque, and misleading.”

“EPIC asks the Commission to investigate Google, enjoin its unfair and deceptive business practices, and require Google to protect the privacy of its users,” the complaint reads.

Google announced in May that it would be launching “store sales measurement,” a new tool that will allow its advertisers to track whether their online ads are leading to in-store purchases.

The company pushed back against the complaint, insisting that it only has access to aggregated, anonymized data and not personally identifiable information about consumers’ shopping habits.

“This type of sales measurement is common and before we launched our solution, we invested in building a new, custom encryption technology that ensures users’ data remains private, secure, and anonymous,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement.

Read more here.

LYFT PICKS UP VALERIE JARRETT: Valerie Jarrett has joined Lyft’s board of directors, the ride-hailing firm announced Monday.

Jarrett, who served as former President Barack Obama‘s senior adviser and assistant for public engagement and intergovernmental affairs, will be focused on tackling the problems and opportunities associated with urban transportation. At the White House, she worked on issues such as boosting economic opportunities and empowering families in the workplace.

Since Obama left office, Jarrett has joined Chicago-based Ariel Investments and has become an adviser for the Obama Foundation.

Read more here.

TUESDAY IS STARTUP DAY: Tech focused organizations including Engine, FWD.us and 1776 are trying urging legislators to take the considerations of startups into account on Startup Day Across America. Melissa Blaustein, the founder of Allied for Startups urged lawmakers to pay particularly close attention to their considerations as the Privacy Shield returns to the spotlight.

“The September review of the Privacy Shield and the current debate around net neutrality need the important voice of the startup community. Policymakers must do a better job of seeking input from the startup community prior to drafting legislation or creating a regulation that could impact a leading driver of the economy and job creation,” said Blaustein.

The Privacy Shield which helps govern the transfer of data between the U.S. and European Union is up for an annual review this September.

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