Late last week the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly announced plans to revoke H-4 visas. Since 2015, the H-4 visa has allowed spouses of H-1B visa holders seeking permanent residency to work in the U.S. This rule has especially benefited the tech community since many of the high-skilled H-1B visas are awarded to programmers, software engineers, and other high-skilled technology and IT professionals.
Read MoreWho’s to blame when data breaches, hackers, or developer mistakes cause harm in the real world? This is a topic we should all be thinking about, before courts and regulators start making up new rules or allocating the costs. This week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted an all day workshop to examine consumer injury when it comes to data privacy and security. The four panels featured speakers from academia, policy, and public interest groups with diverse backgrounds – from data engineering and privacy to law and policy.
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When there’s gridlock in Washington, like we’ve seen for most of 2017, Congress reacts by holding hearings both to appear busy and to lay the foundation on policy priorities they’ll act upon once movement resumes. Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing focused on data. Data drives the digital economy and our members use it daily to reach and serve users. Changes to how it’s regulated will impact developers across the globe, how they build apps, work with platforms, and collect and use consumer information. If you’re a developer or rely on them to operate, you should be on alert and at the ready to ensure your ability to conduct business and innovate isn’t significantly hindered when Congress inevitably takes action on data.
Read MoreYesterday, the House passed its tax overhaul bill (HR 1). House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA 23) has praised a provision that would allow employees of not (yet) public companies who exercise stock options to defer paying the taxes they owe for up to five full years.
Read MoreToday the House Judiciary Committee passed the Protect and Grow American Jobs Act, HR 170, which aims to curb companies from abusing the H1B visa system. Alliance members and tech employers rely on H1B employees who bring valuable skills from foreign countries. But companies that hire large numbers of H1B-dependent employees, often underpaying them market rate salaries, make the already tough visa system more cumbersome and difficult for employers to find quality, high skilled talent they need to innovate and compete.
Read MoreTax reform is finally here. While the House and Senate undergo amendments, markups, and debate, the tech community is engaging to stop a provision that changes the way stock options are taxed. Those who should be most concerned? Startups.
Read MoreOn Wednesday 18 October, the European Commission published a report supporting the continuation of the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement and recommending some improvements. The report concludes the negotiations of the data-transfer deal’s inaugural annual review, which the Alliance previously covered here.
Read MoreFrom the desk of Bruce Gustafson, President & CEO of the Alliance: This is an essay on Encryption. It is also an essay on the People’s right to secure their property, especially where the Government is unable to provide security on the People’s behalf. Most importantly, this is not an essay about privacy. Let me explain.
Read MoreWhile that’s a flippant analogy, that little preamble looks a lot like what some political leaders are doing to the internet. While social media sites continue to ramp up their efforts to combat extremism online, policy makers are threatening steep fines if internet companies don’t move at unrealistic speeds to help solve a problem which politicians are actually responsible for.
Read MoreWhat the heck is Privacy Shield, and why should application and other software developers care? The answer, in part, is that developers everywhere are looking at a future where data is either free to flow or blocked at the border; circulating inside two completely disconnected clouds or in one. It’s important enough that policy heavyweights from the US and EU are taking the time to meet face to face this week in DC to discuss the future shape of the internet with (hopefully) or without (catastrophe) it.
Read MoreThe European Parliament and EU Council are currently actively working on a new ePrivacy Regulation intended to replace the outdated 2002 ePrivacy Directive. The new framework, better known as the “cookie law,” sets new standards for securing online communications and tracking confidentiality.
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