Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Tech, Internet and Cybersecurity
Wyden, Merkley Demand Answers From the FCC on Move Limiting Access to Resources to Expand Rural Broadband
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today denounced the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to move forward with a recently adopted rule that would limit the federal resources available to expand broadband in rural areas. The rule would make areas that have received state-run broadband program funding or funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) ReConnect program ineligible for new federal investment for broadband deployment … Continue Reading
February 27, 2020
Wyden Statement on Reported FCC Fines on Wireless Carriers Failing to Protect Location Data
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released the following statement on reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will fine wireless companies for failing to protect users' location data: "Based on today's news reports, it seems clear Chairman Pai has failed to protect American consumers at every stage of the game - this issue only came to light after my office and dedicated journalists discovered how wireless companies shared Americans' locations willy nilly. He only … Continue Reading
January 17, 2020
Wyden, Brown, Eshoo Urge FTC to Investigate Firm Collecting and Selling Americans’ Financial Data
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, D-Calif., today demanded the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate Envestnet for possibly violating the law by recklessly selling Americans' personal data. Envestnet operates Yodlee, the largest consumer financial data aggregator in the United States. Financial technology apps, banks and other companies use Yodlee to access, collect and analyze transaction data from consumers' … Continue Reading
December 23, 2019
Wyden, Blumenthal, Warren and Eshoo Question Sale of .ORG Domains to Private Equity Firm
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., with Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., questioned whether nonprofit groups, free speech and internet users would be harmed selling control of .ORG domains to a private equity firm, in a letter sent today. Currently, the Internet Society, a non-profit group, controls how website names ending in .ORG are allocated. In November, the Society announced that it would sell control of the .ORG … Continue Reading
December 18, 2019
Wyden, Colleagues Demand HUD Review Facial Recognition Technology Use in Federally Assisted Housing
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Cory Booker, D-N.J., Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Kamala D. Harris, D-Calif., and U.S. Representatives Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., today asked the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to review policies regarding the use of facial recognition technologies in federally assisted housing. In a letter to HUD Secretary Ben Carson, the legislators pointed … Continue Reading
December 13, 2019
Wyden, Warren and Paul Ask Credit Reporting Agencies for Transparency About Their Handling of FBI Requests for Consumer Financial Data
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., yesterday sent letters to the Chief Executive Officers of the three major credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - regarding the companies' lack of transparency in their handling of consumer financial information requested through national security letters (NSLs) from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The letters follow the recent release of documents gained via a … Continue Reading
December 03, 2019
Wyden, Booker Demand Answers on Biased Health Care Algorithms
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., ) today called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and five of the largest health care companies in the nation to provide more information on how they are addressing bias in algorithms used in many health care systems. The series of letters follows recent revelations published in the journal Science that a widely-used software program severely underestimated the … Continue Reading
December 02, 2019
Merkley, Wyden Announce Major Grant for High-Speed Broadband Infrastructure in Eastern Oregon
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced a $6 million grant to deploy high-speed broadband internet infrastructure in Grant and Wheeler counties-two of Oregon's most rural, and in greatest need of internet connectivity. The grant is among the first round awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) ReConnect Pilot Program, a $600 million program created in the 2018 federal spending bill. Merkley, the top Democrat on the senate … Continue Reading
November 21, 2019
Wyden Welcomes Google Decision to Stop Microtargeting Political Ads
Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today praised Google's decision to end microtargeting of political ads, which it announced last night. Wyden first called for an end to microtargeted online ads in August, and again in additional views to the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on election interference released in October. "Google's decision to stop microtargeting political ads is a welcome and commendable step that will improve America's defenses against foreign interference in the 2020 … Continue Reading
November 20, 2019
Wyden, Markey, Van Hollen, Coons, Peters Question Ring’s Data Security Practices
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Chris Coons, D-Del., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., today questioned the data security practices of Ring, the home security company, after media reports suggesting its lack of regard for customers' privacy and U.S national security. In a letter to Amazon, which purchased Ring last year, the senators wrote, "Ring devices routinely upload data, including video recordings, to Amazon's servers. … Continue Reading
November 06, 2019
Wyden Presses FCC to Secure 5G Networks
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to secure next-generation, 5G telephone networks against hackers, scam-artists and foreign spies. In a letter addressed to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Wyden demanded the administration require all wireless carriers to implement improved cybersecurity measures - including upgrading encryption and authentication features - on 5G telephone networks. Wyden also pushed the FCC to mandate carriers … Continue Reading
October 24, 2019
Wyden and Warren to FTC: Investigate Amazon’s Negligence in Capital One Hack
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., today urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate and determine if Amazon's failure to secure the servers it rented to Capital One violated federal law. In July 2019, a hacker stole the personal information of 100 million Americans from Capital One using a popular cyberattack technique known as a "server side request forgery" (SSRF). Capital One rented the breached servers through Amazon's … Continue Reading
October 18, 2019
Bipartisan Members Condemn Activision Blizzard and Apple Actions to Enforce Chinese Government Censorship
Washington, D.C. - A bipartisan coalition of Senate and House members today condemned Activision Blizzard and Apple's recent actions to suppress criticism of the Chinese government in hopes of gaining higher profits. Apple recently removed the HKMap mapping app, which was widely used by peaceful Hong Kong protestors, from the App Store, at the request of the Chinese government, and has censored at least 2,200 apps in China according to the nonprofit group GreatFire. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., … Continue Reading
October 17, 2019
Wyden Introduces Comprehensive Bill to Secure Americans’ Personal Information and Hold Corporations Accountable
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today introduced sweeping new privacy legislation, the Mind Your Own Business Act, to create the strongest-ever protections for Americans' private data and to hold accountable the corporate executives responsible for abusing our information. Wyden's bill contains the most comprehensive protections for Americans' private data ever introduced, and goes further than Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It would give American … Continue Reading
September 19, 2019
Wyden Urges FCC to Reject Plans that Imperil the Universal Service Fund
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to discard its proposed cap on the Universal Service Fund (USF), which protects rural broadband funding and other programs key to moving the country toward the goal of universal connectivity. In May, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would set an overall budget cap for four USF-funded communications programs - E-Rate, Lifeline, the Rural Health Care Program and the … Continue Reading
August 30, 2019
Wyden Statement on Caucus Cybersecurity
Washington, D.C.- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement today on new cybersecurity recommendations for state party caucuses. "One of the biggest lessons from 2016 is that election officials and parties must make cybersecurity a key consideration for every decision in our elections process. The DNC is doing the right thing by insisting on strong security measures for voters who caucus at home. Intelligence officials have made clear that foreign governments will exploit … Continue Reading
July 24, 2019
Wyden Slams Weak FTC Facebook Decision
Washington, D.C.— Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement on the Federal Trade Commission’s settlement with Facebook today for the company’s repeated abuse of Americans’ privacy: “For a mere fraction of Facebook’s annual revenues, the FTC has given Facebook and executives like Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg blanket immunity for violations of the law that we know about, and even for potential crimes that are still unknown. That sweetheart deal is especially weak, given … Continue Reading
June 11, 2019
Wyden Statement on Senate Floor on Net Neutrality
Mr. President, today I'm joining my colleague Senator Markey on the floor to continue the fight for a free and open internet - what's known as net neutrality. Exactly one year ago, the repeal of net neutrality orchestrated by Ajit Pai and the Trump FCC went into effect. Let me explain what this is all about. Net neutrality -- the free and open internet -- says that once you have access to the internet, you get to go where you want, when you want and how you want. That's the basic principle … Continue Reading
May 16, 2019
Wyden Blasts White House Campaign to Pressure Websites Over Fake Bias Claims
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today blasted the White House’s move to pressure websites over unfounded claims of anti-conservative bias. In fact, online platforms have moved far too slowly to target hateful and vile content online, as multiple reports have demonstrated, and have allowed Donald Trump to promote white nationalists on Twitter. “Platforms have a lot to answer for, but taking down white supremacist content and this bad-faith charge of bias isn’t one of them,” … Continue Reading
May 14, 2019
Wyden and Cantwell to FCC: Don’t Ignore NASA, NOAA & Navy Concerns on 5G Auction
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, yesterday warned that an ongoing sale of wireless airwaves could damage the effectiveness of U.S. weather satellites and harm forecasts and predictions relied on to protect safety, property and national security. They also released an internal U.S. Navy memo that concluded that reducing the accuracy of weather forecasts could threaten the safety of aircraft and naval … Continue Reading