India is shoring up its e-commerce regulations, announcing expanded rules Wednesday that are likely to hit Amazon in one of its most important global markets. The new rules prohibit e-commerce… Read More
Dolly, the app that connects people with trucks to people who need help moving, faces an uncertain future in the state where it got its start. Washington state regulators ordered… Read More
Lawmakers in Washington D.C. are debating how to regulate the tech industry, but the other Washington may beat them to the punch. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he expects the… Read More
Microsoft President Brad Smith is optimistic about the potential of facial recognition technology to solve a range of societal issues, like finding missing children and diagnosing diseases. But he also has… Read More
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is heading to the nation’s capital for a meeting at the White House Thursday. He’ll be joined by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, IBM’s Ginni Roomette, and… Read More
“This is a case about reasonableness.” So said Howard Shapiro, an attorney representing Comcast in King County Superior Court on Monday. He was telling Judge Timothy Bradshaw that Comcast acted… Read More
Washington state officials doubled down on rules requiring companies like Facebook to disclose information about the political ads they sell, according to The Stranger. The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission… Read More
German regulatory officials have launched an investigation to find out whether Amazon’s business practices toward sellers in its marketplace are unfair. Bundeskartellamt, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, announced the probe Thursday… Read More
Editor’s note: Alex Alben is the Chief Privacy Officer for the State of Washington. He discussed privacy, data, and smart cities on this panel at the 2018 GeekWire Summit. COMMENTARY:… Read More
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) is adding her voice to a growing chorus of U.S. lawmakers calling for stronger consumer protections online. Just before the last Congressional session ended, she introduced a… Read More
Democrats in the House of Representatives are promising to push for federal regulation of tech companies if they retake the House in November. Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, has… Read More
Immediately after California passed a law reinstating open internet regulations in the state, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit. Although the suit only targets California, it could provide… Read More
Editor’s note: Alex Alben is the Chief Privacy Officer for the State of Washington. He will be speaking at the GeekWire Summit, Oct. 2-3. COMMENTARY: Privacy is in the news… Read More
Amazon and other tech titans have accepted the reality that a federal data privacy law is on the horizon. To help shape what the regulations look like, Amazon, Apple, AT&T,… Read More
The European Union is looking into how Amazon handles data from smaller sellers in its marketplace. Regulators want to find out whether Amazon is using that information to gain an advantage… Read More
A whopping 79 percent of Americans believe that tech companies should be regulated in the same way that news organizations are, according to a new survey from Gallup and Knight… Read More
Microsoft is calling for increased government oversight on companies developing facial recognition technology, at a time when public concern about the relationship between tech and the public sector is growing.… Read More
Obama-era regulations known as net neutrality officially end Monday. The Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the rules back in December amid backlash from open internet activists and big tech… Read More
Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff offered his take on tech’s troubles of late during an appearance at the Code Conference on Wednesday. Speaking to CNBC, Rascoff called it a… Read More
For months, companies like Seattle-based mobile payments startup Remitly, have been mapping out their entire inventory of user data, updating privacy policies, and building tools to let customers access their personal information,… Read More
T-Mobile and Sprint are speaking President Donald Trump’s language. The two companies are pitching their merger as a pro-consumer deal that will create domestic jobs and help America compete with… Read More
Americans have a growing appetite for government regulation of big tech companies in the wake of Facebook’s recent scandals and other data privacy breaches, according to a new survey by… Read More
Facebook fatigue may be setting in after weeks of headlines, hours of Congressional testimony, and a deluge of updates that read more like talking points than a guide to how… Read More
The Seattle City Council approved a resolution to explore new regulations for ride-hailing companies, like Uber and Lyft, Monday. The resolution doesn’t enact new rules yet but it opens up… Read More
A city in the U.S. has passed the country’s first ban on cryptocurrency mining after residents saw their electricity bills go up, sometimes by $100 or $200. Plattsburgh, N.Y., passed… Read More
The Federal Communications Commission’s rollback of net neutrality was cemented today with the publication of the ruling in the Federal Register. The FCC voted to undo net neutrality in December.… Read More
In a move that surprised no one but disappointed open internet advocates everywhere, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal Obama-era regulations known as net neutrality. The highly contentious nature… Read More
Standard Oil committed many sins on the way to infamy, and Teddy Roosevelt’s s**t list, but a big one was “vertical integration.” Rockefeller’s people owned oil refineries, and trucks that… Read More
The Seattle City Council approved a new tax on short-term rentals Monday, taking the first step toward regulating hosts who rent out their properties using sites like Airbnb and VRBO.… Read More
The Seattle City Council has released a new set of regulations designed to prevent property owners from operating Airbnbs and other short-term rentals as if they were hotels — part… Read More