K Street Cafe

Congressmen, Facebook Go Back and Forth Over Personal Data Sharing (Ars Technica)
Facebook recently reiterated its plan to make users’ addresses and phone numbers available to third-party developers in a letter to US Reps Ed Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX).

Two Years Later: Recovery.gov Still Sucks At Public Engagement (Tech President)
A look into why the interactive website, Recovery.gov, has had no discernible effect on public trust in Obama.

A New Framework for Digital Activism and Digital Repression (Meta-Activism Project)
Considering Egypt’s move to shut down internet access during recent events, this article offers an understanding of digital activism and digital repression as part of a continuum, not a dichotomy.

Lawmakers Ask Facebook About Access to Users’ Data
(USA Today)
Two U.S. congressmen are questioning Facebook’s plan to make users’ addresses and mobile phone numbers available to third-party sites and application developers.

Goldman Sachs Cuts U.S. Investors Out Of Facebook (NPR)
Goldman Sachs has prohibited U.S. investors from participating in a private offering expected to raise up to $1.5 billion for the social networking site, citing widespread media coverage that could run afoul of securities guidelines.

Facebook Temporarily Suspends Address, Phone Number Sharing (The Atlantic)
This morning, Facebook’s Douglas Purdy blogged that his team was temporarily suspending the “improvement” pending some changes.

A Call for a Federal Office to Guide Online Privacy
(The New York Times)
A Commerce Department task force called for the creation of a “Privacy Bill of Rights” for online consumers.

5 Ways Cities Are Using Social Media to Reverse Economic Downturn (Mashable)
Local economic development agencies have turned to social media tools and tactics to enhance their efforts nationally and locally.

GSA Launches Social Media Directory (Next Gov)
The General Services Administration has launched an online social media directory that provides links to its pages on social networking sites.

In Online Privacy Plan, the Opt-Out Question Looms
(The New York Times)
The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed privacy mechanism could cause a major shift in the online advertising industry.

Brief Takeaways — And a Pretty Diagram — From the FTC’s Online Privacy Recommendations (Forbes)
The Federal Trade Commission has laid out their vision for the future of consumer privacy in the U.S.

NASA Rated Savviest About Social Media (The Washington Post)
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was named the most social media and Web savvy entity among 100 of its public sector peers in a recent report.