Roughly half of U.S. broadband households own a programmable thermostat and 11 percent have a thermostat that can connect to the Internet, said research from Parks Associates. Roughly one in five U.S. broadband households has smart lighting or electronic door locks, Parks said, in an email promoting Parks’ Smart Energy Summit to be Feb. 17-19 in Austin, Texas. Keynotes at the smart energy conference will be by executives from Nest, which Google said Monday it was buying for $3.2 billion, Comcast’s Xfinity Home security service, Austin Energy and smart thermostat manufacturer ecobee. Parks said the summit will provide a forum to discuss growing consumer demand and business products for utilities, service providers, retailers and manufacturers.

FTC commissioners Julie Brill, a Democrat, and Maureen Ohlhausen, a Republican, will meet with the House Privacy Working Group Tuesday, an agency spokesman confirmed. The House Privacy Working Group was formed in August and is chaired by Reps. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Peter Welch, D-Vt. (CD Oct 3 p10). Ohlhausen and Brill often focus their public speeches on various aspects of privacy. Brill has emphasized her “Reclaim Your Name” initiative, which encourages data brokers to give consumers the opportunity to view and correct data collected about them -- or opt out of data collection altogether (CD Dec 20 p6). Ohlhausen has repeatedly discussed her view of how government and the FTC should handle the privacy issues posed by the growing Internet of Things (CD Jan 9 p3). At Tuesday’s meeting, Ohlhausen will discuss the FTC’s statutory authority on privacy, as well as the commission’s enforcement history with privacy, said her aide. The aide said Ohlhausen will also discuss the data security legislation she supports. The meeting’s agenda will include the following questions, said a Blackburn spokesman: “What role does the FTC play when it comes to protecting individual’s privacy?”; “What are the main privacy issues currently being addressed by the FTC?”; “Are there any gaps in the FTC’s authority that Congress needs to review?”; and “Does the FTC foresee any issues coming down the pipeline that Congress should be aware of?”

Data center outsourcing and colocation in North America will increase by 15 percent in 2014, DCD Intelligence said Monday. Almost 25 percent of the data center footprint in the U.S. and Canada is now outsourced, following a 12-month period in which outsourcing and colocation increased by 13 percent. The total cost of outsourcing and colocation in the North American data center market over the past 12 months was $8.8 billion, DCD Intelligence said. Colocation has increased in North America because of increasing IT requirements, reduced budgets and demand for new technologies, the firm said (http://bit.ly/1j43JaJ).

Digital movie company NeuMovie selected content management platform CSG Content Direct for the NeuMovie online storefront and to “grow” the company’s UltraViolet offerings, CSG said in a news release Wednesday. CSG will enable the company to “leverage non-traditional retailers and e-tailers in the home entertainment arena,” said NeuMovie Vice President of Digital Strategy and Operations Raffi DiBlasio.

Recently acquired EdgeCast, a content delivery network, and assets from upLynk, a video formatting technology company, will be integrated into Verizon Digital Media Services, said a Verizon news release Monday (http://vz.to/JG4NTu).

In-car navigation companies aren’t giving adequate information to consumers about how they are using and sharing private location data, said a GAO report released Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1a1DAkH). The rise of in-car communication systems, portable navigation devices (PND) and smartphones means drivers have ample opportunity to access location-based information, the report said, citing a study that found the market for in-car data transmission networks will nearly triple to 31.6 million subscribers by 2016. And of the 10 companies queried -- including auto manufacturers, PND companies, mobile map and navigation app developers -- nine share location data with third-party companies, said the report. “All 10 selected companies have taken steps consistent with some, but not all, industry-recommended privacy practices,” the report said. “In addition, the companies’ privacy practices were, in certain instances, unclear, which could make it difficult for consumers to understand the privacy risks that may exist.” Senate Privacy Subcommittee Chairman Al Franken, D-Minn., requested the report after a May 2011 hearing on protecting mobile privacy, said a Monday release (http://1.usa.gov/1a1DAkH). Later that year, Franken sent a letter to in-car navigation device company OnStar, urging it to change its privacy policy on tracking former subscribers. Within a month, the company did change its policy. “Companies providing in-car location services are taking their customers’ privacy seriously -- but this report shows that Minnesotans and people across the country need much more information about how the data are being collected, what they're being used for, and how they're being shared with third parties,” Franken said. The GAO report was released the same day a group of technology and auto companies -- Audi, GM, Google, Honda, Hyundai and Nvidia -- revealed the formation of the Open Automotive Alliance (OAA), which intends to bring the Android platform to cars in 2014, said a release (http://bit.ly/19MiJHN). “Partnering with Google and the OAA on an ecosystem that spans across vehicles and handheld mobile devices furthers our mission to bring vehicles into our owners['] digital lives and their digital lives into their vehicles,” said Mary Chan, president of General Motors’ Global Connected Consumer Unit, in a statement. Franken’s release said he plans to reintroduce his Location Privacy Protection Act, which was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in December 2012, but never reached a floor vote (http://1.usa.gov/Kvw6zQ). The bill would require user consent to collect any geolocation information from an electronic device. “It’s just commonsense that all companies should get their customers’ clear permission before they collect or share their location information,” Franken said.

Cloud video service provider Brightcove agreed to buy cloud video ad insertion company Unicorn Media, Brightcove said in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1cI8gHC). Brightcove will pay $9 million and 2.9 million shares of Brightcove stock for Unicorn, for a total of $49 million, Brightcove said. “We believe that online video has the potential to surpass traditional TV by offering mass personalization, superior ad targeting, and frictionless distribution to more screens in more locations,” said Brightcove CEO David Mendels. The buy of Unicorn will allow Brightcove to help media companies deliver ad-supported content to the many platforms consumers use to watch online video, said Mendels. Unicorn’s Once ad insertion service “reduces or eliminates the need for platform-specific ad technology” and lets media companies deliver live or on-demand video with “dynamically customized programming and targeted advertising to the maximum range of devices,” Brightcove said. Unicorn’s Once service will be rebranded under the Brightcove name, it said. Brightcove expects Q4 2013 revenue to be close to $30 million, it said.

Cyberwarfare is believed to be the most serious national security threat the U.S. faces, said a Defense News poll released Sunday, with 45 percent of poll respondents listing it as the top threat. The poll, sponsored by United Technologies, surveyed 350 “senior defense leaders” who deal with national security issues, including members of the military and congressional staffers, Defense News said. About 42 percent of respondents who identify as Democrats said cyberwarfare was the top threat, as did 36 percent of Republican respondents and 55 percent of independently affiliated respondents (http://bit.ly/198kRsK).

Amazon now collects sales tax from customers in 19 states, with the addition of Indiana, Nevada and Tennessee on Wednesday, the company said (http://amzn.to/1d25DXh). States are continuing to legislate their own retail tax laws after the Supreme Court chose not to hear New York’s Amazon/Overstock case, which would have helped define what it means for a company to have a “physical presence” in a state.

Netflix is testing a $9.99-a-month streaming plan, in addition to the $6.99 one it announced earlier this week, spokesman Jonathan Friedland said Tuesday. Subscribers opting for the $9.99 plan can stream content to three screens at the same time, he said. Under the $6.99 test, subscribers can only stream to one screen at a time. Just like the $6.99 plan, “not everyone will see” the $9.99 plan at Netflix.com when signing up for a plan and “we may not ever offer it generally,” said Friedland. The $9.99 test, like the $6.99 one, is only available to new subscribers, he said. Netflix marketing tests usually “take anywhere from several weeks to several months,” said Friedland. “Whether we roll out any of these options depends on the test results."