The 463: Inside Tech

Why Facebook’s Timeline Will Help the Online Identity Management Industry

(Kelley Vendeland) Scanning my Twitter feed this morning, you could be forgiven for thinking the only thing going on in the world was the launch of Facebook’s Timeline profile at the company’s F8 Developer conference.

 

Aside from having my own personal “you know you work in tech when” moment and possibly needing more diverse Twitter friends, Facebook’s Timeline is very, very cool. A Timeline profile is essentially one page – a tile – that catalogues your entire life since birth. The concept is a little 1984-esque, but I doubt that will matter to Facebook’s now 800 million users  - the site’s infamous skirmishes with privacy watchdogs haven't dented its growth thus far.  And Mark Zuckerberg is right on the mark that gorgeous visuals are crucial on today’s web. Facebook’s decision to hire non-coding graphic designers to work on profile layout has resulted in a stunning user interface; no other social networking site, not even Google+, can hold a candle to it.

 

What I find most interesting though are the implications of Facebook’s very blatant mission to assemble a digital diary of every user’s life. If you’re above a certain age, chances are you don’t have digitized photos of your high school, college and immediate post-college days. You might have hard copies that you could theoretically scan, upload and tag on Timeline, but are you really going to do that? Probably not.

 

But for users like myself – borderline digital natives – or younger – full fledged natives – who joined Facebook in college or high school, Timeline means that it just became even easier to find and chronologically sort our growing pains.

 

Does that mean we have to be even more vigilant about policing what ends up on Facebook? I’d argue yes. In an ideal world, if 800 million people use a service and a sizable fraction of them have silly party photos from college, those silly photos wouldn’t be a source of ammunition for HR departments and political campaign teams. If everyone has them, why do they matter, especially as the digital native generation gains seniority in the workforce?

 

Unfortunately I doubt it will play out like that.  Instead Facebook’s Timeline rollout and the Timeline copycats that will inevitably follow will likely be a boon for the online identity management industry. In highly competitive industries, people will always look to leverage the skeletons in the closet of the next guy. Now that Facebook has made your past even more searchable, management is more important than ever.

 

 

National Wireless Initiative: Win-Win for All

(By: Krista Strum) If you missed President Obama’s speech on the National Wireless Initiative and its execution plan, here are a few important highlights. First, he signaled support for legislation to allow the FCC to conduct voluntary incentive auctions to free up 500MHz worth of spectrum. What makes incentive auctions attractive, as proposed in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, is that current owners will get a share of revenue earned from auctioning off the spectrum. It’s a sweet deal that should encourage those “squatting” on idle or unused spectrum to participate.

Second, the plan includes measures to help consumers become more connected, directing $5 billion to constructing 4G networks in rural areas. The effort will also be backed by a $3 billion R&D budget to help guide the rollout. When all is said and done, it’s projected that at least 98 percent of American’s will have service.  This is awesome considering more connectivity and information sharing makes for a smarter America.

The ‘icing on the cake’ is a $10.7 billion budget for a nationwide public safety network.  So during national emergencies, emergency response workers and groups can communicate on a larger scale. Under the plan, “$3.2 billion would be devoted to reallocating the “D Block” (which is a band of spectrum that would be reserved and prioritized for public safety and not auctioned as called for under existing law); $7 billion to support the deployment of this network; and $500 million from the WIN Fund for R&D and technological development to tailor the network to meet public safety requirements.”

If you’re worried about this adding to the federal deficit, don’t! The spectrum auctions, “estimated to raise $27.8 billion,” will help offset these costs -- $9.6 billion of which will go toward reducing the deficit.

Overall, his plan is a win-win for all: “squatters” have good reason to unload their idle spectrum, consumers could enjoy more connectivity and, in times of national emergency we’ll be able to communicate better.

For more details about the plan, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/10/president-obama-details-plan-win-future-through-expanded-wireless-access

A Dream Deferred No More

Katie Hallen -- The Consumer Electronics Association's Innovation Movement, a grassroots campaign formed to fight for innovation policies in Washington, has debuted a new video this week on reclaiming the American Dream.

CEA described the "Innovation and the American Dream" video this way on its campaign blog:

"Americans are tired of free falling, and we are all ready for a big change...Those feelings of desperation – desperate to end the crisis and enter the cycle of renewal – are so visceral at times our judgment is clouded. We miss the solutions staring us in the face. We are ready for the great economic comeback, ready to reclaim the American Dream. How do we get there?'

'...It’s time Washington lawmakers take a page from Americans innovators and entrepreneurs to guide the nation toward a comeback. Americans, with their ingenuity, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, have the ingredients for success; we only need Washington to support an economy where entrepreneurs are free to compete and pursue their dreams."

Appearing less than two weeks before the midterm elections, the video asks Americans to take action by joining the Innovation Movement to fight for change in Washington - and by change, they mean a policy environment that places entrepreneurs first and advocates policies such as trade, responsible spending, modernized H1Bs, and a free-market economy.  CEA President and CEO elaborates on that policy vision in an op-ed published by The Huffington Post this week.

The message seems to be resonating. The campaign's membership has seen tremendous growth, with nearly 100,000 individuals across the nation enlisting their support. To learn more, visit http://innovation-movement.com

 

 CEA is a 463 client.

 

 

Stop.Think.Connect.: The Smokey Bear of Online Safety

Katie Hallen -- October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month - it's an important time to focus on online safety as a national priority, understand the current threats, and empower ourselves with new tools and information to expore the digital world with confidence.

On October 4, a public-private coalition led by the U.S. government, private companies from Google to Walmart, and nonprofits unveiled a single online safety message that will form the basis of a new national campaign: "Stop. Think. Connect."

"Stop. Think. Connect." came about after a yearlong process of research, opinion polling, focus groups, and collaboration across organizations. Led by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), the coalition of organizations came together in a remarkable way to adopt a single unified message that hopes to do for online safety what "Smokey Bear" did for forest fire prevention and "Click It or Ticket" did for seatbelt safety.

President Obama is also supporting "Stop. Think. Connect."  As he wrote in a recent presidential proclamation, "Through this initiative, Americans can learn about and become more aware of risks in cyberspace, and be empowered to make choices that contribute to our overall security."

To learn more, check out these stories in USA TODAY and CNET. Also, take the "Stop. Think. Connect." security quiz on Facebook to see how safe you are online. Follow the news on Twitter by using the hashtags #NCSAM and #STConnect.

 

Right Brain Innovation

Stephanie Tackach -- We’ve been hearing a lot about innovation in the news these days with the current economic situation. However, the Consumer Electronics Association decided to put a fun spin on it by partnering with Threadless, an online community for t-shirt designers, for a contest for the Innovation Movement.
 
Designers were asked to give their interpretations of innovation in the past, present or future for a chance to win a trip to CES along with many other prizes.
 
170 designs were submitted but David Fleck of Edinburgh, Scotland, won with his “Innovation Revolution” design. Fleck will join the winner of CEA’s “Apps for Innovation” contest, which is still accepting submissions through December 14. For more details on the contest, click here.

 
See all designs here.

Mr. Chopra Goes to Silicon Valley

Katie Hallen -- Aneesh Chopra received a rock star’s welcome Tuesday night at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., in an event hosted by TechNet, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Churchill Club.  For America’s first federal CTO, it was his first visit – and public appearance – in Silicon Valley since President Obama appointed him to office in April.

Chopra, who previously was Virginia’s secretary of technology, had initially been perceived by some in the room as a Silicon Valley outsider, but last night they embraced him as a visionary with big ideas and specific objectives to help the government translate technology to boost U.S. global competitiveness and better engage the citizenry.

Among those in the packed room of 350 attendees was Tim O’Reilly, an early Chopra supporter.  O’Reilly wrote back in April when news of the CTO appointment hit that: “Chopra has been one of those who have taught me the most about how we can build a better government with the help of technology.” 

Chopra revealed his near-term (next 90 days, by September 22) versus long-term priorities, looking at how government can invest in the building blocks of innovation, promote innovation to achieve national policy goals, and instill a culture of openness and transparency.  In particular, he cited his huge support for health care IT, education technology and government R&D investment.

 “We need to embrace this spirit of commonwealth – the idea that we can bring the power of entrepreneurship to deliver game-changing innovation in our public services,” said Chopra who peppered his remarks with stories of social entrepreneurs who have inspired him to help technology and the government work better for the American people.

Watch the YouTube video from the talk and Q&A on the Churchill Club’s YouTube Channel.

Read the Twitter chatter here.

See more coverage from TechCrunch, PC Magazine and the New York Times.

TechNet and the Center for Democracy and Technology are 463 clients.





 














 

Aneesh Chopra's First Valley Trip as Fed CTO

Federal CTO Aneesh Chopra will be making his first official trip to Silicon Valley tomorrow. And, if you move fast, there are two ways that you can hear from him.

Tomorrow night, the Churchill Club and 463 clients TechNet and the Center for Democracy & Technology will be hosting Chopra at the Computer History Museum. Tickets are going very fast for this late-breaking event. Registration closes tomorrow morning. Go here for all the details.

And, then on Wednesday, our friends at the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee are holding their annual State of the Net West event at Santa Clara University. Chopra's trip is well-timed. He'll be able to join Congressman Rick Boucher, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Congressman Bob Goodlatte, industry leaders and academics at the event.

Congressional Internet Caucus State of the Net Videos and Audio

In a welcome Web 2.0 twist, our friends at the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee have posted video or audio content for every keynote and panel of their annual tech policy-pallooza. The whole lot is the organization's Facebook page.

Below is Skype President Josh Silverman and Congressman Bob Goodlatte talking next generation communications and policy in a keynote chat...

And this is a link to the audio from my quite enjoyable tech policy blogger panel (for me, at least). Hear me try to moderate John "CZ" Czwartacki, Verizon Policy Blog, Ajit Jaokar, Open Gardens Blog & Oxford University, Mike Masnick, TechDirt, and Julian Sanchez, Ars Technica.

Privacy 2009

So far, it sounds a lot like privacy 2007 and 2008.

But, nevertheless, thanks to the Tech Policy Central folks for pulling together a discussion on Internet privacy today at Facebook HQ that featured Center for Democracy and Technology's Jim Dempsey, Chris Hoofnagle of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology and Chris Kelly, Facebook's Chief Privacy Officer (and potential California AG candidate). Kara Swisher of All Things D moderated and promised to ask "the really hard questions."

Below are the highlights of the talk... Please don't trust my sporadic and distracted note taking as a transcript......

Kara Swisher:  Privacy is something that gets ignored until Britney spears gets her twitter account hacked.

Jim Dempsey: Big issue for 2009 is the issue of government access to information. We have a set of laws that somewhat protect against privacy invasions. Yet, we have a regulatory regime that is based on a 1986 rule for technologies that are moving fast.

While we are encouraging companies to improve their privacy policies, even the best privacy policy in the world is exposed to a subpoena.

Chris Hoofnagle: Prediction for 2009: Privacy is not going to highly prioritized this year in DC because of other big issues. But, states are running ahead and need to be watched. Calif, Mass, Wash, NJ, NY. I would look the states as prime leaders.

Chris Kelly: Big issue for 2009: How we give people as much control as possible while allowing them to do what they want to do.

KS: Do people really know what they are doing when they shove their information on their services?

JD: The love/hate relationship with tech is a constant struggle for consumers. You can’t legislate common sense, but we can use education, better tech design and legislation to create an environment where there is proper balance.

When you think about medical records, you hit the outer levels of consent. Most people consent to things that are put in front of them. But governments can take the issue of consent off the table. For example, consent for access to genetic records by employers have been take off the table by law.

CH: We have a long way to go to get to proper public understanding. Doing a series of consumer surveys. Consumers think that privacy policies prevent a baseline series of protections that don’t exist.

KS: Should we be parternalist to correct this?

CK: there has been a binary approach to rules. But, most people don’t want their choices to be binary and this is the way that FB sets up its privacy settings.

CK: Facebook hasn't taken a formal approach to a federal Internet privacy bill. We have take a tech first approach that would get us ahead of legislation, but we are monitoring.

There are bills that already exist. For example COPA for under 13s.

Our philosophy is that they manner of how people want other people to see them is housed in the privacy settings. But, if you used anonymity, then the workings of the privacy setting loses value. I think privacy is about control, not anonymity.

CK: Anonymity could degrade the political discourse. Responsibility for comments can enhance the dialogue. Anonymity in every context is not necessarily a good thing.

KS: Beacon and advertising?

CK: Beacon was about letting people to share actions on third party sites with friends. Where we made the mistake was that we made it too easy to share.

KS: Why did it hit such a nerve?

CK: I think it was a generalized concern about data and where it is going on the Internet and we didn’t get the product right in terms of giving people control.

Newsfeed was much the same way. We surprised people with it. It was the same info that already existed, but when it was in one package they were surprised.

CH: this just shows how naïve consumers are. I loved beacon and how it showed how consumers react to when information about them is exposed. I think consumers don’t like to be tools of advertising.

KS: What about generational differences and privacy?

JD: I question and reject that kids don’t care about privacy. I think this more about the definition of deviant behavior.

CH: We don’t know if this is a generational or maturational issue. Kids don’t have the same development.

KS: Who are the most dangerous players? Who should we worry the most?

CH: we need to look at the intermediaries: like the ISPs and google is looking more and more like a intermediary. A lot of companies have the same info like Axiom and Lexis, but it’s all about the analytics and how they figure this information out.

KS: Nightmare scenario in terms of privacy?

CK: A hacked system and major security breach.

JD: The single cross platform identity -- personal data linked across the Web

Audience Q: Where do we see things going in the Obama admin?

CH: Obama’s record on privacy is fairly thin, but his appointements will be very important. Promotes Ed Felten for CTO. A change in posture at these agencies will be important. “Self-regulation” will be harder. Need to be better data driven.

JD: The CTO position is likely be more inward looking than outward looking. There will be an improvement in transparency. Who will be the most powerful person. No one knows yet.

McCain v. Obama: The Technology Policy "Smackdown"

And, (sans quotations) that is literally how the normally wonky New America Foundation describes this Thursday's debate between McCain campaign's chief economic policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Obama surrogate, former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt.

Here are all the details. This is also place to go to on Thursday at 12:30 pm ET for the event's Webcast.

It must be tech policy debate day in DC on Thursday. Just prior to the New America Foundation event, The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is hosting a National Press Club event with "representatives/surrogates for the Obama and McCain campaigns discussing/debating their technology policy platforms."

(photo by El Buen Matador)