Government agencies should not be able to easily obtain and view Americans’ emails, photos and other personal data without a warrant. Unfortunately, the law that protects private information stored electronically from government searches dates back to 1986, when Congress passed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) – long before the technologies that are ubiquitous… Read more »
Like most of the American public, I remain outraged and deeply troubled by reports of far-reaching and invasive government surveillance programs. As we now know, the government has interpreted Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act to secretly obtain personal data from U.S. citizens, whether or not they are suspected of any illegal activity.
The post-9/11 world has certainly offered a new… Read more »
A group of 4-H members shared their passions about the future of agriculture with the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research today and emphasized why it's more important than ever before to build “bridges” between rural and urban residents.
The 17 young people, delegates to the National 4-H Conference, came from states as small in land… Read more »
Roman conquerors, Egyptian pharaohs, pirates, movie stars and even a few Klingons spent the evening together during the 24th-annual Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce dinner and auction.
The Hollywood-themed event, which took place on April 4 at Camp Huston in Gold Bar, included live and silent auctions, dessert auction, a raffle and costume contest. The event was considered a success,… Read more »
For technology-executive-turned-Rep. Suzan DelBene, technology isn't a separate issue – it's related to everything Congress does.
“I think information technology and technology kind of permeates everything that we do," DelBene said. “When we look at industries and government, we see that technology has created incredible opportunities as well."
DelBene is the… Read more »
Since the Equal Pay Act became law in 1963, women have made gains as the gap has closed between what they and men earn working at comparable jobs.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the early '60s women made an average of about 60 cents for every dollar men earned. By 2013, that ratio had increased to 78 cents on the dollar. At that rate of improvement,… Read more »
Last January, a fridge was caught sending spam emails as part of a larger botnet attack: In other words, someone out there remotely accessed more than 100,000 devices, including televisions, routers, multimedia centers and at least one fridge. This person (or persons) used those devices to send more than 750,000 spam emails between December 23, 2013 and January 6, 2014.
Fast forward a… Read more »
Since the Edward Snowden revelations of 2013, foreign governments have raised concern about the safety of their citizens’ data stored by American Internet companies.
They believe U.S. law enforcement authorities have access to any cloud-based data — and it’s putting the $174 billion industry at risk.
Alert to these fears, a bipartisan coalition in Congress is working… Read more »
The "Internet of Things" has become the latest big thing on Capitol Hill.
As more Americans connect to the Internet through everything from fitness bracelets to coffee makers, Congress is looking at ways to spur innovation while ensuring that hackers don't exploit the growing number of smart gadgets to steal personal data.
Worried that lawmakers are lagging behind on the rapidly… Read more »
Rep. Suzan DelBene is proposing to widen eligibility for ObamaCare's small-business tax credit as a way to encourage more firms to offer health insurance.
DelBene, a Democrat from Washington state, introduced legislation Thursday making businesses with up to 50 employees eligible for the tax credits. Currently, only firms with up to 25 workers are eligible.
The bill would also lengthen… Read more »
