Privacy

Google Takes Some Blame In Self-Driving Car Bang-Up

February 29, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><font style="font-size:1.2em;">Google on Monday said that its self-driving car bore some of the blame in a recent fender-bender after making the kind of assumption a human might have made.</font></p> <p><font style="font-size:1.2em;">A Lexus car converted into an autonomous vehicle by the Internet company had a low-speed collision with a transit bus on February 14 in what marked the first time that Google laid some of the responsibility for a crash on the software brains.</font></p>

Passenger Bus Teaches Google Robot Car A Lesson

February 29, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>When it comes to hair-raising traffic duels, most California motorists know better than to play chicken with a hulking passenger bus.</p> <p>This, however, is not a concept widely understood by Google's fleet of fearless autonomous cars.</p> <p>Following a Valentine's Day collision between a bus and an autonomous car in Silicon Valley, Google engineers have reportedly refined the vehicle's software to better "understand" the sometimes bullying nature of public transportation.</p>

Google Self-Driving Car Strikes Bus On California Street

February 29, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<script type="text/javascript" charset="UTF-8" src="http://www.nbcbayarea.com/portableplayer/?cmsID=370583561&videoID=ockR1eUUno_w&origin=nbcbayarea.com&sec=news&subsec=california&width=600&height=360"></script> <div class="article-body resizeFont" itemprop="articleBody"> <p style="font-size: 100%;">LOS ANGELES — A self-driving car being tested by Google struck a public bus on a Silicon Valley street, a fender-bender that appears to be the first time one of the tech company's vehicles caused a crash during testing.</p>

Google Says It Bears ‘Some Responsibility’ After Self-Driving Care Hit Bus

February 29, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph"><span class="articleLocatio</span>n">Alphabet Inc's Google said on Monday it bears "some responsibility" after one of its self-driving cars struck a municipal bus in a minor crash earlier this month.</span></span></span></p>

Google Self-Driving Car In Fender-Bender With VTA Bus

February 29, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A self-driving Google SUV and a <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=bayarea&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Santa+Clara+Valley+Transit+Authority%22">Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority</a> bus with a human at the controls smacked into each other on Valentine’s Day in Mountain View, according to a report released Monday by the state <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=bayarea&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Department+of+Motor+Vehicles%22">Department of Motor Vehicles</a>.</p>

Gas Prices to Dramatically Increase Over Weekend: Consumer Watchdog

February 26, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><br /> <script type="text/javascript" charset="UTF-8" src="http://www.nbclosangeles.com/portableplayer/?cmsID=370258141&videoID=hvT655hAIqOc&origin=nbclosangeles.com&sec=news&subsec=local&width=600&height=360"></script></p> <p class="paragraph" data-pnum="1">Gas prices are about to soar dramatically, possibly increasing 30 cents a gallon by the weekend, according to consumer advocates and an industry expert.</p>

Gov. Brown Proposes $177 Million For Exide Lead Contamination Cleanup

February 17, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="inaugural">After years of silence, Gov. Jerry Brown Wednesday asked California state lawmakers to spend nearly $177 million for expedited testing and cleanup of lead contamination in communities around the former Exide plant in Vernon.</p> <p>"This Exide battery recycling facility has been a problem for a very long time," Brown said in  a statement. "With this funding plan, we're opening a new chapter that will help protect the community and hold Exide responsible."</p>

Every Member of Congress Should Sign On To My Bills That Enhance Consumers’ Privacy & Ensure Digital Inclusion

February 16, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Last week, I introduced a pair of bills to safeguard consumers' privacy: the Application Privacy, Protection and Security (APPS) Act of 2016 (H.R. 4517), a bill to increase consumer privacy on mobile devices; and the Data Broker Accountability and Transparency (Data) Act of 2016 (H.R. 4516), which would prohibit data brokers from using consumer data deceptively, empowering consumers to access and correct information, and opt-out of data use for marketing purposes.</p>

FCC Poised To Flex New Privacy Powers

February 15, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>A fight over privacy at the Federal Communications Commission, sparked by last year's net neutrality rules, is heating up.</p> <p>The FCC is expected to craft regulations in the coming months on how broadband providers handle sensitive customer data – and advocates on both sides of the issue are gearing up to make their case.</p>

Should Computers Qualify as Drivers?

February 11, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>As <a class="spip_auto" href="http://www.topspeed.com/cars/autonomous-cars/ke5282.html" style="position:relative;">driverless car<span class="pic"> </span> </a> technology grows, so does the controversy surrounding autonomous motoring.

US Regulator ‘Paves The Way For Google’s Self-Driving Car’

February 11, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A letter to Google, the US federal transport regulator, <span class="glossary-item" style="cursor: help;">National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</span> (NHTSA), appears to pave the way for self-driving cars, but adds the proviso that the rule-making could take some time.<br /> <br /> Google had requested clarification of a number of provisions in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs) as they apply to Google’s described design for self-driving vehicles (SDVs).<br /> <br />

NHTSA Says Software Can Count As A Driver

February 10, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>Santa Monica, California -- February 10, 2016 --</strong> Does the software suite piloting an autonomous vehicle count as a driver? The US-based National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seems to think so, judging by recent comments made by Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.</p>