Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted to reject an amendment to the highway bill that would block federal funding for states and municipalities that utilize automated license plate tracking systems, with Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) casting a key vote against the amendment. Companies like Flock Safety have been using … Continued
Admin Ignores Senate Intel Leaders’ Demand for Declassification Within 15 Days; Hides Abuse Ahead of Key FISA Votes Washington, D.C. — On Saturday, the Trump administration missed a deadline to declassify an opinion from the surveillance court showing continuing violations of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Earlier this month, Sen. Ron Wyden … Continued
Data Privacy Measure Protects Americans from Data Brokers, Warrantless AI Surveillance Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment offered by Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) to a major funding bill that would enact new privacy protections against data brokers. The amendment includes language that mirrors the Fourth Amendment Is Not For … Continued
Senate Banking Committee Poised to Pass Dangerous Deregulatory Crypto Bill Thursday Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee will consider a deeply flawed cryptocurrency bill filled with giveaways to the crypto industry. After months of negotiations, the text of the bill was only released on Monday—just a few days before the markup. The … Continued
On Thursday, Demand Progress applauded the passage of legislation in Colorado that would limit swipe fees, part of a broad effort to break the stranglehold that payment processors and big banks have on the credit card business. The new law, the Swipe Fee Fairness and Consumer Safeguards Act, bans swipe fees – the money merchants … Continued
Federal regulator goes all-in on protecting the swipe fee racket and paves the way for more On April 24, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced an interim final rule that would fundamentally transform a longstanding federal regulation, 12 C.F.R. § 7.4002, that governs fees that national banks – those with federal … Continued
CFTC Proposal Would Turn Consumer Protection Agency Into Nation’s Gambling Czar Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, Demand Progress Education Fund, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and Public Citizen submitted a comment letter urging the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to reject any efforts to bring “events contracts” on sports, entertainment, policy or political outcomes traded … Continued
Congress Fails to Pass Long-Term ‘Clean’ FISA Reauthorization Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, both the Senate and House unanimously passed a stopgap 45-day extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This measure buys more time to negotiate for a FISA renewal with actual privacy reforms. This also marks yet another defeat … Continued