CNBC: Google stacks its legal team with former DOJ employees as it faces antitrust cases. “Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has stacked its legal team with former Department of Justice employees as it fights two separate antitrust lawsuits from the agency, public profiles show.”
CNBC: SEC and Justice Department reportedly investigating SVB’s collapse, including insider stock sales. “The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department are investigating how Silicon Valley Bank became the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The probes, which are separate and in preliminary phases, include looking into stock sales that SVB executives’ conducted ahead of the tech-focused bank’s collapse, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.”
Columbia Climate School: New Website Tracks Inflation Reduction Act’s Climate Provisions. “Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Environmental Defense Fund unveiled a new website today to track implementation of the climate change-related provisions in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The website will also provide users with valuable information about the programs, protections, incentives, and tax credits offered through this historic legislation.”
CBS: DOT tool shows which airlines let families sit together for free. “The Transportation Department on Monday debuted a new dashboard that shows families which airlines guarantee they can sit together without paying extra fees, as the Biden Administration takes steps to crack down on so-called ‘junk fees.'”
Associated Press: Biden administration releases new cybersecurity strategy. “The U.S. government plans to expand minimum cybersecurity requirements for critical sectors and to be faster and more aggressive in preventing cyberattacks before they can occur, including by using military, law enforcement and diplomatic tools, according to a Biden administration strategy document released Thursday.”
FedScoop: National Archives allocates $600,000 to transfer digitized veterans’ records from the VA. “The National Archives and Records Administration has allocated $600,000 to transfer digitized veterans’ records from the Department of Veterans Affairs as it continues to work through a backlog of document requests, according to details set out in a strategic plan.”
CNN: Ransomware attack on US Marshals Service affects ‘law enforcement sensitive information’. “A ransomware attack on the US Marshals Service has affected a computer system containing ‘law enforcement sensitive information,’ including personal information belonging to targets of investigations, a US Marshals Service spokesperson said Monday evening.”
TechCrunch: Senator Markey calls on Elon Musk to reinstate Twitter’s accessibility team. “Like any social platform, Twitter has had its foibles when it comes to accessibility — in 2020, Twitter didn’t even have an accessibility team and only established one after public outcry when the company rolled out voice tweets without captions. But in the few years Twitter did have an accessibility team, the company rolled out features for alt text on images, automatic captioning on videos and captions for Spaces live audio rooms and voice tweets.”
Associated Press: White House: No more TikTok on gov’t devices within 30 days. “The White House is giving all federal agencies 30 days to wipe TikTok off all government devices, as the Chinese-owned social media app comes under increasing scrutiny in Washington over security concerns.”
Route Fifty: Have Thoughts on Criminal Justice Data Collection? . “As part of a larger effort to build trust between police and local communities, the White House issued a request for information to better understand how law enforcement agencies collect and use data.”
Homeland Security Today: State Department Announces $7 Million for Ukraine Cultural Heritage Response Initiative. “It will support activities such as the documentation of damaged sites and collections for accountability, protection from damage and theft, emergency stabilization of damaged sites, the development and implementation of conservation and restoration plans, cultural heritage response coordination, and specialized training.”
CNBC: DOJ reportedly probes Google Maps, adding to sprawling antitrust concerns. “The Department of Justice has renewed its focus on Google Maps, adding to its already-sprawling antitrust investigation into the company, Politico and Bloomberg reported Wednesday.”
Honolulu Civil Beat: The Military’s Public Information Black Hole. “Since I started reporting in Hawaii in 2019, I’ve filed numerous FOIA requests with the military, primarily the Navy. Time and again, I have filed one with the hopes of shining a light on an issue of public importance only to have it fizzle into nothingness. The Freedom of Information Act, which is supposed to provide the transparency needed for a healthy democracy, is too often a pathway to a dead end that leaves us in the dark on critical issues. “
Washington Post: FTC launches technology office to keep up with Silicon Valley giants. “The Federal Trade Commission on Friday is launching an Office of Technology to aid efforts to rein in the fast-moving tech sector, which has emerged as a major focus under Democratic Chair Lina Khan, in an announcement shared exclusively with The Technology 202.”
National Transportation Safety Board: NTSB Releases Data Visualization Tool for General Aviation Accidents. “The General Aviation Accident Dashboard provides summary statistics, investigative findings and safety recommendations for general aviation accidents from 2012 through 2021. The Dashboard allows users to more intuitively display accident information, reports and statistics by selecting one or more filters for year, location, phase of flight and defining event.”
