"For as much as we fret about snooping apps on our computers and phones, our homes are where the rubber really hits the road for privacy. It's easy to rationalize away privacy concerns by thinking a single smart speaker or appliance couldn't know enough to matter. But across the connected home, there's a brazen data grab going on and there are few regulations, watchdogs or even common-sense practices to keep it in check." The states have gone further on addressing both Internet of Things security and privacy issues posed by smart speakers specifically. As California has been a leader on security and privacy issues, it's conceivable that Congress start paying more attention to smart speakers as lawmakers look for ways to crack down on Big Tech. BITS: Facebook told the U.S. government it is "Willing to submit to greater oversight of its data-collection practices - from the launching of new services to the decisions of its top executives - to end a wide-ranging federal probe into a series of privacy abuses that came to light last year," my colleague Tony Romm reported. Privacy review of new products: "Facebook would have to complete a more rigorous privacy review of new products and services before launching them... The company would have to document its decisions, and its efforts to anticipate potential privacy pitfalls, which would help the FTC assess if the social-networking giant fully weighed the effects of its data-collection practices on users." Oversight of privacy from the top: "Every quarter, Facebook's decision-makers, including chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, would assess the company's privacy safeguards and sign off on them." Facebook has fought back against the idea that Zuckerberg, the chief executive, should be held liable for any violation of a 2011 agreement with the FTC in which ir promised to overhaul its privacy practices. Read more