White House Releases Six Proposals For Reforming Tech Industry Regulation

The White House has published six proposals to reform regulation in the technology industry, covering areas such as privacy, algorithmic decision making and market competition.

The proposals were made public on Thursday following a White House hearing on the tech industry. The meeting was attended by more than a dozen specialists and experts.

The first of the White House's six proposals aims to increase competition in the technology sector. “A small number of dominant Internet platforms use their power to exclude market participants, conduct annual searches and collect personal information,” the proposal says. To remedy the situation, the White House is calling for new rules so that "small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs can compete with each other on an equal footing."

The second suggestion concerns confidentiality. The White House has said that clear limits must be placed on the powers of companies to collect, use, share and store Americans' personal information. The proposal also highlights the need for stricter regulation of targeted advertising.

The White House on Thursday expressed support for lawmakers' efforts to pass federal privacy laws. “We are encouraged by the fact that Congress has a bipartisan interest in passing privacy legislation,” the White House said.

Central to the legislative effort is the US Privacy and Data Protection Act. The bill was under scrutiny from California lawmakers for its potential impact on state privacy laws, but was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year. The proposed law would create new rules for the collection and processing of user data by technology companies.

The third proposal from the White House this week concerns protecting the privacy of children. The proposal states that tech giants should implement security standards and practices in online platforms, products and services. In addition, the White House supports the introduction of new rules to limit the collection of excessive data and targeted advertising.

The White House is also trying to eliminate special legal protections for large technology companies under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Another area where the White House has identified room for improvement is the transparency that the tech giants offer in their content moderation algorithms and solutions. The White House said online platform operators "do not provide enough transparency for the public and researchers to understand how and why such decisions are made, their potential impact on users, and the real danger these decisions may pose."

The sixth proposal aims to end discriminatory algorithmic decision making. “We need strong guarantees that algorithms do not discriminate against protected groups, for example, through unfair distribution of key skills, discriminatory provision of risky products to vulnerable communities, or through constant surveillance,” the White House said.

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06/23/09: Press conference at the White House with President Obama.