Facebook's website lists the number of content restrictions the company has complied with for countries including Brazil, India, Israel and Turkey, but the amount of content Facebook blocks in the U.S. is unknown, wrote Electronic Frontier Foundation Investigative Researcher Dave Maass in a blog post Thursday. That this information is missing in the U.S. is “odd, considering that Facebook has been suspending the accounts of inmates for at least four years at the behest of prison officials,” he said. EFF’s issue isn’t about prisoner accounts removed from Facebook, but EFF is concerned if the company isn’t reporting these takedown requests that it's censoring other information as well, Maass said. In California and South Carolina alone, more than 700 takedowns were requested for accounts belonging to prisoners, he said. Even if EFF or another outlet filed a public records request in all 50 states, the true number of prisoner takedowns Facebook complied with may not be known because “Facebook’s system allowed prisons to file these requests without creating a paper trail,” Maass said. In EFF’s annual scorecard evaluating how companies handle government requests, Google and Twitter transparency efforts were applauded, he said. While EFF was preparing its 2015 report, “we gave Facebook multiple opportunities to come clean about government requests to suppress content,” he said. Facebook “did overhaul its inmate takedown process,” but “refuses to release top line numbers for the United States,” Maass said. He urged Facebook to “publish the data and show U.S. government agencies that censorship shouldn’t happen in the dark.” The company didn't comment.

About 30 percent of broadband households in the U.S. own a connected health device and 12 percent own more than one, said research released Thursday by Parks Associates. It said that more than half of all broadband households nationally use an online health tool to talk with a doctor, fill a prescription or access personal health information.

Data security company Vormetric found “high levels of data breach and compliance failures” in the U.K., Germany and the U.S., a news release said. Polling for the Vormetric report was done by Harris Poll in fall 2014 through online surveys. Almost 45 percent of U.S. respondents, 40 percent of U.K. respondents and 26 percent of German respondents said they had encountered a data breach or failed a compliance audit in the past year, Vormetric said. “These responses are disturbing because they represent strong evidence that organizations are systematically failing to secure their data," said Tina Stewart, vice president-global market strategy. "Part of the problem is a pervasive perception that meeting compliance standards is all that needs to be done to protect sensitive information,” she said. “With this perception, and with attacks changing by the hour, slowly evolving compliance mandates result in organizations fighting today's battles with yesterday's weapons, and failing to protect sensitive data not covered by compliance requirements." There are “notable contrasts” between how European and U.S. organizations prioritized cloud security, data accessibility, privacy violations and compliance requirements, such as 62 percent of U.S. respondents planning to increase spending on additional security measures, compared with 44 percent of German respondents and 51 percent in the U.K., the firm said.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., wrote Google CEO Larry Page Wednesday asking the company for details about complaints (see 1505190015) its YouTube Kids app contains content inappropriate for children, a news release said. Nelson asked Page to detail, among other things, how Google selects content for the app and what steps it takes to ensure kids aren't exposed to unsuitable content. “As parents seek out safe and appropriate online venues for their children, it is critical that services designed and marketed for children are, in fact, appropriate for the kids who will undoubtedly use them," Nelson wrote. Google had no immediate comment Wednesday.

The wider availability of services on a fast-growing connected-device base “has led to a vastly improved viewing experience for many in the online video sector, encouraging consumers to pay for premium content,” said a Futuresource Consulting report Tuesday. It described a “perfect storm” in which Netflix has been able to capitalize “on the growing trend to access content via IP.” Netflix has used its low-priced subscription VOD business model to increase its global customer base to 60 million, of which 40 million are in the U.S., it said. Futuresource estimates the global total will reach at least 80 million by the end of 2016, it said. This would make Netflix “approximately twice as big” as any other pay-TV content provider except HBO, which is available in 114 million homes worldwide, it said. For Netflix, “international expansion has been a huge success, with most countries it has launched in exceeding expectations,” it said, citing the recent Netflix debut in Australia. “However, uptake in Germany and France has been slower, with some resistance to the service, whilst Japan could be its toughest and potentially most expensive launch yet, with language, culture and content in Japan all very different to Netflix's previous experiences of international launches.” Netflix representatives didn’t comment.

A coalition of civil rights and privacy organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and TechFreedom, sent a letter to House leadership Monday in support of an amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act co-sponsored by Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and Jim Himes, D-Conn., that would remove Section 306 from the proposed bill, a TechFreedom news release said. Section 306 “would allow executive agencies to withhold from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) any information related to covert action, which is defined in the National Security Act of 1947 as ‘any activity or activities of the United States Government to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the role of the United States Government will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly,’” the release said. “PCLOB can’t be expected to do its job if executive agencies are given broad license to withhold key information,” said TechFreedom Policy Fellow Mark Potkewitz. “The Section 306 carve-out for ‘covert’ action is so broad that agencies could claim this exception to preclude PCLOB access to information on virtually anything -- including the intrusive surveillance programs that are in dire need of more oversight,” Potkewitz said. “Rep. Gabbard’s amendment is crucial for the continued oversight of surveillance programs.”

U.S. Chief Information Officer Tony Scott ordered federal agencies to begin a 30-day “cybersecurity sprint” to review and improve their cybersecurity policies, the White House said Friday. Obama administration officials said the effort to strengthen federal cyber defenses was unrelated to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach announced earlier this month (see 1506050042). But the White House noted in a fact sheet distributed to reporters that “recent events underscore the need to accelerate the Administration’s cyber strategy and confront” hackers. The White House has generally had a “laser-like focus” on cybersecurity issues but "it’s hard not to see how this 30-day sprint isn’t connected to the OPM data breach,” said Norma Krayem, co-leader of Squire Patton’s cybersecurity practice. The OPM data breach is to be the subject of two House briefings Tuesday and a House Homeland Security Cybersecurity Subcommittee hearing next week. Tuesdays’ OPM briefings include a 10 a.m. House Oversight Committee hearing in 2154 Rayburn and a 1 p.m. closed all-House briefing that’s to include Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. A “Cybersecurity Sprint Team” is leading a 30-day review of all federal agencies’ cybersecurity policies as part of the cyber policy push, with members of the team coming from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, OMB’s E-Gov Cyber and National Security Unit and the National Security Council Cybersecurity Directorate, the White House said. The U.S. CIO’s office will recommend a federal civilian cybersecurity strategy based on the review team’s findings and will issue action plans to further address critical cyber issues, the White House said. The U.S. CIO’s office is requiring federal agencies to use DHS-provided cyberthreat indicators on their networks and report any malicious activity, the White House said. Federal agencies will also be required to immediately patch critical cyber vulnerabilities, accelerate adoption of multifactor authentication and tighten which network users have “privileged” access.

The Direct Marketing Association is disappointed that Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., reintroduced his Do Not Track Kids Act (see 1506110015), a DMA news release said Friday, “citing robust existing protections for children in the online environment.” Do Not Track isn't necessary because protection for children is “already effectively provided through self-regulation,” said DMA Vice President-Government Affairs Rachel Nyswander Thomas. “Ironically, in order to enact the proposals put forth in Senator Markey’s bill, such as a ‘do not track’ button or an ‘eraser button,’ companies would have to collect more information -- not less -- about children online,” Thomas said. “Robust self-regulation is the best and most appropriate way to address privacy concerns, providing flexible, adaptive frameworks that keep pace with ever-changing technology,” she said. “DMA encourages Senator Markey and his Senate colleagues to bear in mind that children are growing up in a digital world, and increasingly their success in this global economy will depend on their ability to navigate online platforms and emerging technologies,” Thomas said. “Congressional action to unnecessarily inhibit growth in new areas of Internet innovation would be a disservice to children who benefit from richer data-driven learning experiences as they grow up in an increasingly data-driven world.” In 1998, DMA supported passage of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, participated in the FTC’s most recent update of COPPA, and continues to “support and enforce mechanisms that provide children with safe, engaging online resources,” the release said.

While app usage has transitioned from a novelty to an essential part of the mobile user experience, the number of apps used is staying the same, said a Nielsen study. Millions of apps are available, with more rolled out every day, but more than 70 percent of total app usage is coming from the top 200 apps, said Nielsen. App developers and marketers need to position apps effectively to stand out in an increasingly competitive market, it said. While there’s an app for “everyone, regardless of age, race or interest,” consumers have shown a threshold for the number of apps they use actively per month, it said. On average, smartphone users accessed 26.7 apps per month in Q4, roughly flat with Q4 2012. But the time they spend engaging with those apps has increased by 14 minutes per month, Nielsen said. Average time per month spent on apps per person has grown from 23:02 (hours and minutes) in Q4 2012 to 37:28 in Q4 2014, said Nielsen. The entertainment category -- covering a broad swath of content from weather forecasts to sports scores -- has contributed to the increase in app usage, driving a 13 percent year-on-year increase in Q4, as users spent nearly three hours more on apps during the period, Nielsen said. On smartphones, gaming is the biggest subcategory, with 76 percent of entertainment app users (115 million) reporting they played at least one game in Q4, followed by music and then movies/videos. Men’s monthly app usage averaged 27.2 versus 26.3 for women, but women spend more time per app at 38:02 minutes versus 36:51 for men, it said. African-Americans use the most apps per month (30.3) and spend nearly 43 hours per month on them, while Hispanics follow at 41:31 across an average 27.9 apps per month, it said. Asian-Americans average 37:14 per month on apps, while white non-Hispanic users spend 35:25 per month, it said.

More than 25 groups, including privacy advocates, wrote to House leadership and Appropriations Committee and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee leaders Wednesday urging them to support an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2016 (HR-2685) offered by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky. The amendment would “defund warrantless government searches of the database of information collected under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 using U.S. person identifiers, absent certain circumstances,” the letter said. The amendment would also “prohibit the use of appropriated funds to require or request that United States persons and entities build security vulnerabilities into their products or services in order to facilitate government surveillance, except as provided for by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act,” the groups said. The amendment proposed this year is “identical to the Massie-Lofgren amendment that passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming 293-vote majority in 2014, although it was not included in the omnibus appropriations bill that ultimately was enacted into law,” the letter said. Groups that signed the letter include the Center for Democracy & Technology, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Restore the Fourth, Sunlight Foundation and TechFreedom.