Meta’s Messenger app remains on track to launch end-to-end encryption for one-on-one and family chats by the end of 2023, a spokesperson said Wednesday. This is part of a global test for increasing encryption standards across the company, Meta said. Fight for the Future published an Aug. 3 letter from the company stating Meta’s appreciation for the group's campaign advocating for end-to-end encryption. Meta plans to extend the same standards to Instagram “shortly” after 2023, it said. FFTF said advocates are “glad” about Meta’s plans but said any continued delay further threatens certain users, like those seeking reproductive health care services and activists at risk of police surveillance.

A former Covington & Burling antitrust attorney will be the FTC’s Competition Bureau director, FTC Chair Lina Khan announced Tuesday. Henry Liu will replace Holly Vedova, who announced her retirement after more than 30 years at the FTC. Liu was a partner in the firm’s litigation and antitrust practices.

Contractors must disclose any generative AI technology used when working with state agencies in Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) announced Thursday, issuing a statewide generative AI policy. The Kansas Office of Information Technology Services created the policy, which outlines how agencies can “responsibly embrace and use the technology,” the governor’s office said. Responses “created from generative AI outputs must be reviewed for accuracy, appropriateness, privacy, and security before being acted upon or disseminated,” her office said.

Antitrust policy has gone from being viewed as an “arcane, esoteric” topic to something consumers recognize as a vital tool for shaping the quality of day-to-day life, FTC Chair Lina Khan said during a podcast aired Wednesday. This means enforcers from either party can have a lasting impact because more people see antitrust as more than just a “technocratic” policy topic, she said during an interview with The Ankler. The FTC wants “markets that reward good ideas” and where companies can “compete on the merits,” she said: To make that happen, the market needs antitrust rules. Monopolies can jack up prices and degrade quality, she said. Along with this attitude shift on antitrust, the American public has grown increasingly skeptical about tech companies that collect personal data and the lack of consumer choice on privacy policies, she said: Consumers feel they lack choice because these companies can change their data handling practices overnight without any repercussions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will issue rules that would apply the Fair Credit Reporting Act to data brokers and others that collect consumer data, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra announced at a White House event Tuesday (see 2303150027). Chopra said the agency is considering defining brokers as consumer reporting agencies. The proposal would “generally treat a data broker’s sale of data” about things like consumer payment history, income and criminal records as a “consumer report, because that type of data is typically used for credit, employment, and certain other determinations,” he said. “This would trigger requirements for ensuring accuracy and handling disputes of inaccurate information, as well as prohibit misuse.” The CFPB and state enforcers will be able to enforce updated rules under FCRA, he said. He noted the FTC, the Department of Transportation, USDA and other agencies can “enforce these rules for specific sectors under their jurisdiction.” The CFPB’s data broker rulemaking will complement the FTC’s efforts on data privacy and security, he said. The CFPB plans to open the rule for public comment in 2024.

Experian will pay $650,000 to settle charges it sent consumers “unsolicited email without offering” a way to opt out, the FTC said Monday. Experian's ConsumerInfo.com spammed consumers after they signed up for credit reporting services, the agency said. The commission voted 3-0 to allow DOJ to file the complaint. Experian’s actions violated the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act, the first federal anti-spam law. “Signing up for a membership doesn’t mean you’re signing up for unwanted email, especially when all you’re trying to do is freeze your credit to protect your identity,” said FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Director Samuel Levine. The company didn’t comment.

Comments are due Sept. 28 on a Treasury Department rule on implementing an executive order meant to combat national security threats posed by technology in China, Hong Kong and Macau, the department said Wednesday. The EO, which President Joe Biden signed Wednesday, addresses U.S. “investments in certain national security technologies and products in countries of concern.” The department has been asked to issue a rule regulating technology related to semiconductors, microelectronics, quantum computing and AI. The EO directs Treasury to ban U.S. citizens from “engaging in certain transactions involving certain technologies and products that pose a particularly acute national security threat” to the U.S. The rules would govern notification requirements for transactions involving certain technologies and products that pose national security threats.

The White House announced a two-year competition in which teams will compete for $20 million in prizes awarded for novel uses of AI to fix software vulnerabilities. Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI agreed to make their technology available to competitors in the AI Cyber Challenge, which will be led by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The “competitor that best secures vital software will win millions of dollars in prizes,” the White House said Thursday. DARPA will reserve $7 million for small businesses seeking to compete. This includes security measures for internet code and critical infrastructure systems.

Zoom should publicly state it won’t use user data to train its AI, Fight for the Future said Tuesday in a new petition. Zoom’s reported interest in using user data for machine learning and AI models is “terrible” for user privacy because it shows the company is more interested in profit than protecting user data, the organization said. Fight for the Future raised concerns about Zoom’s “hurried response” to backlash over its recent terms of service update. Zoom “claims that it will not use audio or video data from calls for training AI without user consent, but this still does not line up with the Terms of Service, and the process for gaining consent is unclear and could expose users to abuse,” said Fight for the Future. The company didn’t comment.

There’s no evidence of a link between Facebook use and mental health issues, University of Oxford researchers said Wednesday, releasing a 12-year study on nearly a million users across the world. Analysis from the Oxford Internet Institute suggests Facebook use might result in “positive well-being” for users, said professor Andrew Przybylski. The study analyzed polling from nearly 950,000 users in 72 countries across two age groups: 13-34 and older than 35. The data was pulled from a Gallup World Poll Survey. The Huo Family Foundation and Economic and Social Research Council Grant funded the research. The data suggested the association between Facebook use and positive well-being was “slightly more positive” for male users than female ones across all age groups, and well-being was generally more positive for younger age groups across countries, the researchers said.