 Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill's newsletter detailing all you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Welcome! Follow the cyber team, Olivia Beavers (@olivia_beavers) and Jacqueline Thomsen (@jacq_thomsen), and the tech team, Harper Neidig (@hneidig) and Ali Breland (@alibreland). And CLICK HERE to subscribe to our newsletter. IN TRUMP'S EAR?: U.S. spy agencies have determined that Russia and China are eavesdropping on President Trump's personal phone calls in order to gain information that they can use to influence American policy, according to a New York Times report. Although Trump's aides have repeatedly warned him that his three personal iPhones are not secure, the president refuses to give them up, the Times reported. He continues to use them to chat with friends and confidants. China has reportedly been keeping track of the people whom Trump speaks to the most, compiling them into a list of figures to target with pro-Chinese messaging. While Russia's efforts are reportedly less coordinated, they are listening in to conversations in order to seek insight into the Trump's thinking. None of Trump's three iPhones is completely secure. Two of them have been made more secure by the National Security Agency, but the third iPhone is no different than any other personal cell phone, the Times reported. But Trump aides told the Times that the president likely does not share confidential information during those phone calls with friends, largely because he does not pay much attention to the details in classified reports. Read more here. Trump pushed back on the report in a tweet early Thursday, saying that the "story is soooo wrong!" The president called the report "incorrect" and claimed that he did not have time to correct it. He then contended that he only uses "Government Phones, and have only one seldom used government cell phone." Trump in a subsequent tweet called the report "more made up Fake News." THIS IS SOME GOOD TROLLING: China on Thursday also pushed back against the report, suggesting that the president instead use a Huawei-manufactured phone, a Chinese firm considered to pose a threat to national security. "Firstly, the New York Times should know that such report just provides another piece of evidence that the NYT is making fake news," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters Thursday, according to The Associated Press. "Secondly, I suggest they replace their iPhone with Huawei ones if they are really concerned about security issues," Hua jokingly said, adding that if the U.S. is still concerned about the security of Huawei's products, Trump could "abandon all modern communication devices and cut off contact with the outside completely." Trump previously banned the government from using Huawei's products and the Democratic National Committee has warned candidates against doing so. Read about it here. Russia also responded, with one official saying the Kremlin is "amused" by the report. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the Times' reporting, telling reporters Thursday the Kremlin regretted that the Times "thoughtlessly publishes information, which demonstrates the decreasing level of journalistic responsibility." "Nowadays, we tend to get amused at such publications," he added, according to Russian News Agency TASS. Peskov also said that the Kremlin might want to clarify the report since it "presumably has some detailed information" on the claim. Read more here. WHITE HOUSE ORDERS UP 5G STRATEGY: President Trump on Thursday signed a new directive ordering his administration to explore ways to speed up the private sector's deployment of 5G wireless networks. The new presidential memorandum directs the Commerce Department to develop a national strategy to free up the spectrum needed to roll out the next generation of wireless. "The steps outlined in this Presidential Memo make it clear that America intends to remain the world leader in next-generation wireless networks," White House spokesman Michael Kratsios said in a call with reporters. "We will prioritize efforts to accelerate the private sector's development of 5G, so that the American people can reap the rewards of this incredible technology." While 5G is still years away from being fully developed, policymakers in Washington have been laying the groundwork to push for the highly touted wireless upgrade. And, despite skepticism in some corners, the administration and the private sector are framing the 5G rollout as a race to beat China to the economic benefits they believe the new networks will bring. The White House has emphasized that the 5G rollout will have national security implications as well.
Don't forget: Earlier this year, Trump cited national security concerns in blocking Broadcom, a technology giant that was based in Singapore at the time, from pulling off a hostile takeover of the San Diego-based chipmaker Qualcomm. He cited national security officials' concerns that the merger would hurt U.S. businesses' investments in 5G research and development. Read more here. UK FINES FACEBOOK OVER CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA: The United Kingdom on Thursday officially fined Facebook the maximum possible penalty of $644,600, or 500,000 British pounds, for its actions in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The Information Commissioner's Office's (ICO), a British government watchdog, found that, between 2007 and 2014, Facebook's practice of making large amounts of user data available to third-party app developers was done without proper consent from users. Data on 87 million Facebook accounts was obtained within this time frame, that made its way into the hands of the British research firm, Cambridge Analytica. The firm was hired by the Trump campaign during the 2016 election and allegedly used the data to attempt to suppress some voting groups. The fine was the maximum possible for the time when the violation occurred but likely would have been larger had it occurred since new European data protections were enacted this past summer. The ICO said that at least 1 million users in the U.K. were among those whose data was harvested. Read more here. FACEBOOK UNVEILS 'CANDIDATE INFO' SECTION: Facebook is unveiling a "Candidate Info" section ahead of the fast-approaching midterm elections, a new feature that will offer up short videos from hopefuls around the country. "These videos will make it easier for people to learn about and compare different candidates -- and they'll also be able to see the candidates' Facebook Pages or profiles as well as the political ads on Facebook that are associated with that campaign," the company wrote in its announcement. The tool shows four clips of candidates answering prompts from Facebook. In one, the hopefuls introduce themselves and the office for which they are running. In another, they talk about their main policy priority and their qualifications for handling it. Read more here. NEW BOMBSHELL ON GOOGLE'S PAYMENTS TO EXECUTIVE FACING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS: Google reportedly gave Android creator Andy Rubin $90 million in severance pay when he left the company in 2014 following a sexual misconduct allegation, despite having no contractual obligation to offer the money. The New York Times reports that Google initially stayed quiet about the misconduct allegation, which was later reported by the tech news site The Information, and heaped praise on Rubin during his exit. Google later invested in the venture capital firm that Rubin started. According to sources cited by the Times, an employee accused Rubin of coercing her into performing oral sex on him in a hotel room in 2013. Read more here. CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP PUSH TECH TO CRACK DOWN ON HATE SPEECH: A group of civil rights organizations is pushing technology companies to create policies to more effectively address hate speech and extremist groups. The six organizations, joined by 40 other organizations who echoed the call, wrote in a report that they want the platforms to take firmer stances against "racism, sexism, xenophobia, religious bigotry, homophobia and transphobia" and enforce policies against hate speech and extremist groups more strictly. The groups, which include the Center for American Progress, Color of Change, Free Press, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Southern Poverty Law Center, said that they plan to release report cards next year for how social media firms are handling the recommendations. Read more here. STUDY LINKS RIDE-SHARING WITH RISE IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS: The arrival of ride-sharing services has resulted in an increase fatal traffic accidents in U.S. cities, a draft paper released Thursday shows. The research, produced in collaboration between the University of Chicago and Rice University, shows that the ride-share apps are associated with a two- to three-percent increase in the number of fatalities for both vehicle occupants and pedestrians. In 2010, the total number of traffic fatalities reached its lowest since 1949 at 32,885, but since then those numbers have slowly begun to rise. Read more here. INSTAGRAM LEAVES UP INFLAMMATORY YIANNOPOULOS POST: Instagram on Thursday said it will leave up a post from popular right-wing agitator Milo Yiannopoulos cheering on this week's bomb attacks against Democratic figures and journalists. In a post on Thursday, reported earlier by The Daily Beast, Yiannopoulos said he wished that outlet had been targeted as well and said he was "sad" that none of the bombs had gone off. "just catching up with news of all these pipe bombs," he wrote. "disgusting and sad (that they didn't go off, and the daily beast didn't get one)." Read more here. AT&T DONATES $250K TO JOURNALISM ORGANIZATION: AT&T has donated $250,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the press freedom group announced Thursday. AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said in a statement that journalists' work is "more important than ever," given recent attacks on the press. "Journalists around the world do the important work of holding leaders accountable, exposing the truth, and telling the stories that need to be told," Stephenson said. "Threats to journalists are, at the very core, threats to freedom and liberty." Read more here. AN OP-ED TO CHEW ON: Should internet platforms censor too much or too little? A LIGHTER CLICK: I hate when that happens. NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB: Gingrich: Media earned 'enemy of the people' label (The Hill) Facebook's political ad tool let us buy ads "paid for" by Mike Pence and ISIS (Vice News) DHS Plans to Rejigger Government's Cyber Sensor System for Move to Cloud (Nextgov) In Groundbreaking Decision, Feds Say Hacking DRM to Fix Your Electronics Is Legal (Motherboard) | 
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