Overnight Tech: Facebook vows to stop letting advertisers exclude by race | Watchdog study finds lack of diversity in tech | Agencies sued over tattoo recognition software

FACEBOOK PROMISES TO STOP LETTING ADVERTISERS EXCLUDE BY RACE: Facebook will no longer allow advertisers to exclude “multicultural affinity groups” — its term for groups that include various ethnic and racial communities.

The company made the announcement late Wednesday after coming under fire over a feature that allowed advertisers on its platform to exclude some ethnic groups, like African-Americans, from being able to see their housing ads, potentially in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Facebook had previously agreed to no longer allow advertisers to do this, but its vice president of ads growth, Rob Goldman, admitted this week that its initial solutions “were not as comprehensive as they should have been.”

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Goldman said that Facebook would completely turn off its ability to exclude “multicultural affinity groups until it completes a review of the feature.

“Ads targeting or excluding potentially sensitive segments are subject to expanded review before they appear on Facebook,” he said in statement.

Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) said Facebook’s decision to disable the function was “appropriate,” but noted her frustration with the pace at which the social media firm acted.

“When I first raised this issue with Facebook, I was disappointed,” Kelly said in a statement. “When it became necessary to raise the issue again, I was irritated.”

“I will continue watching this issue very closely to ensure these issues do not raise again,” she added.

Read more here.

 

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GAO FINDS LACK OF DIVERSITY IN TECH: A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report details a lack of racial diversity among technology firms, particularly among black employees.

The report, commissioned by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and one of the few government studies on the topic, is the latest in a growing stack of research illustrating the homogeneity of the tech workforce.

The GAO’s Diversity in Tech report found that Hispanic workers remain underrepresented at tech firms, while the number of black employees in tech has not increased in a “statistically significant” way.

The report also noted that female, black and Hispanic individuals make up a smaller proportion of the technology workforce than they do the U.S. workforce at large.

Read more here.

 

GROUP SUES AGENCIES OVER TATTOO RECOGNITION PROGRAM: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital rights advocacy group, is suing government agencies for information on tattoo recognition technology being developed to assist law enforcement.

The EFF filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on Thursday against the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which are collaborating on the new technology.

The group is concerned that tattoo recognition programs raise concerns about privacy violations and could infringe on First Amendment rights to free expression.

“Tattoos have served as an expression of the self for thousands of years, and can represent our innermost thoughts, closely held beliefs, and significant moments,” EFF fellow Camille Fischer said in a statement. “If law enforcement is creating a detailed database of tattoos, we have to make sure that everyone’s rights to freedom of expression are protected.”

Read more here.

 

SENATORS ASK DOJ TO REVERSE ONLINE GAMBLING OPINION: Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are pushing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to take action and reverse a 2011 Department of Justice opinion that changed the agency’s long-held understanding that online gambling is prohibited under federal law.

In a letter to Rosenstein last week, Graham and Feinstein noted that the department had interpreted the 1961 Wire Act as prohibiting online gambling up until the 2011 decision from the agency’s Office of Legal Counsel, which said the Wire Act only applies to sports betting.  

“Internet gambling takes gambling too far,” they wrote. “It preys on children and society’s most vulnerable.”

Read more here.

 

UK GROUP SUES GOOGLE: A British consumer group is accusing Google of illegally collecting data on iPhone users by working around their devices’ privacy protections in 2011 and 2012.

The group, Google You Owe Us, filed a lawsuit against the tech giant on Thursday, saying it’s the first time a major company has faced a class action suit over the abuse of data.

“I believe that what Google did was quite simply against the law,” said Richard Lloyd, who’s representing the group. “Their actions have affected millions, and we’ll be asking the courts to remedy this major breach of trust.”

Google did not respond when asked to comment on the lawsuit, but the internet search giant told Bloomberg that the issue is not new.

“We don’t believe it has any merit and we will contest it,” a company spokesperson told the outlet.

Read more here.

 

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ON TAP:

The Policy Study Organization’s Dupont Summit begins at 8:30 a.m.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) holds a panel event on tech and trade starting at 9 a.m.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

The New York Times profiles Bored Panda

Man charged with threatening to kill NY rep over net neutrality

Reuters: Verizon plan to launch 5G broadband lifts shares

Axios: All U.S. government agencies have completed scanning for Kaspersky

Study: FCC net neutrality comments rife with fake users, duplicate messages