This is a test: Amazon has asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for permission to test a new wireless Internet service using the 3.5 MHz spectrum band, Cord Cutters News reports. The test, in Sunnyvale, California, would run from mid-August to mid-February. The test is in addition to Amazon’s plans to launch 3,236 satellites for a new home Internet service.
Billions for broadband: U.S. presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, wants to spend $85 billion to expand rural broadband in the country, CNet reports. She also wants to override states trying to prevent local municipalities from building their own broadband networks.
Russian hackers vs. the IoT: Microsoft has accused a Russian hacking group of targeting Internet of Things devices, including a voice over IP phone and office printer, Security Today reports. The Russian group known as Fancy Bear was allegedly involved in the hack of the Democratic National Committee before the 2016 U.S. elections.
Lawsuit recognition: Facebook users can sue the social networking site for its facial recognition photo tagging service, a U.S. court has ruled. Illinois users have claimed the tagging service violates a state privacy law, NPR reports. “Once a face template of an individual is created,” the judges wrote, “Facebook can use it to identify that individual in any of the other hundreds of millions of photos uploaded to Facebook each day, as well as determine when the individual was present at a specific location.”
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