Wearables, whether worn on the wrist or embedded in clothing to monitor physical activities and other wellness metrics, are fast being adopted. Many people are freely sharing their personal data with friends, family and even device manufacturers. But the consumer-facing wearables industry doesn't have a lot of privacy guidance on collecting, storing and sharing users' personal data, said authors of a new report from Center for Democracy and Technology and Fitbit as well as several observers.

Wearables, whether worn on the wrist or embedded in clothing to monitor physical activities and other wellness metrics, are fast being adopted. Many people are freely sharing their personal data with friends, family and even device manufacturers. But the consumer-facing wearables industry doesn't have a lot of privacy guidance on collecting, storing and sharing users' personal data, said authors of a new report from Center for Democracy and Technology and Fitbit as well as several observers.

Wearables, whether worn on the wrist or embedded in clothing to monitor physical activities and other wellness metrics, are fast being adopted. Many people are freely sharing their personal data with friends, family and even device manufacturers. But the consumer-facing wearables industry doesn't have a lot of privacy guidance on collecting, storing and sharing users' personal data, said authors of a new report from Center for Democracy and Technology and Fitbit as well as several observers.

The House FY 2017 FCC funding bill retained its policy riders curbing the agency’s net neutrality order, mandating a pause to the set-top proceeding and mandating FCC process overhaul Thursday as it advanced to the floor. Appropriations Committee Republicans shot down Democrats' attempts to modify the Financial Services bill during the long full committee markup, approving the bill 30-17.

The House FY 2017 FCC funding bill retained its policy riders curbing the agency’s net neutrality order, mandating a pause to the set-top proceeding and mandating FCC process overhaul Thursday as it advanced to the floor. Appropriations Committee Republicans shot down Democrats' attempts to modify the Financial Services bill during the long full committee markup, approving the bill 30-17.

With state universal service fund revenue dropping, the Utah Public Service Commission plans to discuss ongoing revenue requirements of its fund at a technical conference June 21, the Utah PSC said in a notice Monday. The open, public meeting also will address “regulatory options” to ensure telecom providers who pay into the fund collect and remit required revenue, and ways to ensure funding, including possibly adding a line or connection surcharge, it said. Also, the commission asked the Utah Division of Public Utilities to present on declining universal service revenue. The meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. at the commission’s headquarters in Salt Lake City.

There's sufficient E-rate USF funding available to fully meet school and library demand for discounted service in the 2016 funding year beginning July 1, said the FCC Wireline Bureau in a public notice Wednesday in docket 02-6. The Universal Service Administrative Co. estimated in a letter this week that demand for the coming funding year would be $3.61 billion: $2.33 billion for "Category One" services providing broadband connectivity to schools and libraries, and $1.28 billion for "Category Two" internal broadband connections. The FCC has budgeted $3.94 billion for the E-rate program, and there's another $1.9 billion in unused funds from previous years, allowing the program to fully fund all of the requests for discounted service in both categories, the PN said.

There's sufficient E-rate USF funding available to fully meet school and library demand for discounted service in the 2016 funding year beginning July 1, said the FCC Wireline Bureau in a public notice Wednesday in docket 02-6. The Universal Service Administrative Co. estimated in a letter this week that demand for the coming funding year would be $3.61 billion: $2.33 billion for "Category One" services providing broadband connectivity to schools and libraries, and $1.28 billion for "Category Two" internal broadband connections. The FCC has budgeted $3.94 billion for the E-rate program, and there's another $1.9 billion in unused funds from previous years, allowing the program to fully fund all of the requests for discounted service in both categories, the PN said.

At least $476 million in annual Lifeline USF spending remains questionable and perhaps wasteful, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said Wednesday. Pai said it appears that "unscrupulous" wireless resellers continue to take advantage of "override" processes to get around a commission rule aimed at preventing duplicative Lifeline telecom support to low-income consumers. "We need to get to the bottom of it and we need to root out the waste, fraud and abuse that has persisted in the program for a long time,” he told reporters at a briefing Wednesday on his latest letter seeking answers from the Universal Service Administrative Co., which runs USF for the commission.

The FCC provided compliance guidance to price-cap telcos that accepted Connect America Fund Phase I incremental support. CAF I support was offered in two rounds, and for both rounds recipients are required to submit certifications and lists of geocoded locations as part of their annual FCC Form 481 submissions, said a Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 10-90 listed in Monday's Daily Digest. The three-year deadline for meeting the CAF I incremental support duties for the first round was July 24, 2015, the PN said. "CAF Phase I recipients for the first round are required to certify that they are meeting the CAF Phase I incremental support requirements and provide the final list of locations as part of their Form 481 submission due July 1, 2016," it said. "CAF Phase I recipients for the second round will be required to certify on their FCC Form 481 due July 1, 2016 that they deployed broadband to no fewer than two-thirds of the required locations within two years of the date of acceptance of support. CAF Phase I recipients for the second round will submit geocoded information for the two-year milestone on July 1, 2016." The Universal Service Administrative Co. will be validating compliance with deployment milestones and testing certification accuracy. The bureau also provided guidance on the types of documents that recipients should be prepared to produce on request.