Al Franken's Blog, page 80

Businessweek: T-Mobile Says Devices Had Carrier IQ Data-Collection Software

T-Mobile USA Inc. and Motorola Mobility Inc. said some of their mobile devices contain Carrier IQ Inc. software that collects user data, responding to U.S. Senate concerns that customer privacy is in jeopardy.

Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat who leads a Senate subcommittee on privacy, released letters today from the companies explaining their use of the software.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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Star Tribune: Payroll tax divide plays out in Minnesota as well as nation's capital

With the days winding down on a payroll tax holiday for 160 million Americans, leaders in Congress and its Minnesota members gave no signs Wednesday that the impasse would be broken before the New Year's deadline.

Both parties argued over who should make the next move, even as President Obama called to urge House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to pass a bipartisan Senate measure to extend the payroll tax cut for another 60 days.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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Park Rapids Enterprise: Editorial: Federal heating funding comes just in time

The additional funding approved for heating assistance came just in time.

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken announced Monday that $3.5 billion in critical heating assistance funding was included in the Omnibus Bill that passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 89-10.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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Minnesota Public Radio: AT&T drops bid to buy T-Mobile, Franken weighs in

AT&T won't be buying T-Mobile after all.

The $39 billion potential deal was facing government opposition.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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HuffingtonPost: Franken, Whitehouse Expose Climate Deniers on Senate Floor

The United States was founded by scientists, based in large part on the principles of science, and science is why we have become the world's leading economy. So it is shocking to see mainstream politicians denying the validity of science for political reasons — a practice long associated with authoritarian regimes, not the United States.

Two U.S. senators rebuffed that troubling trend on the floor of the United States senate, in a move that may signal the beginning of a new thaw in the paralysis the United States is facing on climate change and a host of other issues.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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Kare11: Federal money awarded to improve Target Field rail interchange

Target Field got some help from Minnesota's Senators with Thursday's announcement of a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for construction funding to improve the rail station and surrounding area outside the ballpark.

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken made the announcement Thursday morning.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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MinnPost: Franken votes against defense policy bill

Sen. Al Franken voted against a defense policy and funding bill Thursday because of a controversial detention provision that many liberals and some conservatives have opposed on civil liberty grounds.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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Star Tribune: Carrier IQ: Bug could've collected text messages

A bug in a data collection system installed on millions of mobile phones and tablets may have inadvertently collected the contents of text messages, software maker Carrier IQ acknowledged this week.

But, the company insisted in a letter to U.S. Sen. Al Franken, the information was never placed in a format that could be read by humans.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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TPM: Sen. Franken Still 'Troubled' By Carrier IQ

Senator Al Franken (D-MN), was the first lawmaker to come out against the controversial mobile intelligence software company Carrier IQ, releasing an open list of questions to the company's founders in early December and demanding answers within two weeks.

The deadline has come and gone, and although Carrier IQ CEO Larry Lenhart and the company's vice president for marketing Andrew Coward did visit Washington on Monday and Tuesday to speak to Franken and other lawmakers, Franken still isn't entirely satisfied with the answers he's received.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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HuffingtonPost: Why I Voted Against the National Defense Authorization Act

Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill that includes provisions on detention that I found simply unacceptable. These provisions are inconsistent with the liberties and freedoms that are at the core of the system our Founders established. And while I did in fact vote for an earlier version of the legislation, I did so with the hope that the final version would be significantly improved. That didn't happen, and so I could not support the final bill.

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© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
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