The Supreme Court sent CTIA's complaint against a California city back to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reflect on the high court’s Tuesday decision about crisis pregnancy centers. The high court vacated and remanded the appeals court’s decision upholding an RF disclosure ordinance in Berkeley, California, “for further consideration in light of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra,” said a Thursday notice in case 17-976. In that decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a 2015 California state law requiring crisis pregnancy centers to disclose all available medical options to pregnant women violated free speech claims. In the RF disclosure case, Berkeley argued it may compel truthful disclosure in commercial speech because it’s reasonably related to the FCC’s interest, while CTIA said the First Amendment precludes state and local governments from forcing retailers to convey a government message (see 1804180014). Remand to the 9th Circuit pleased CTIA, a spokesperson said. "We will continue to assert our position that the First Amendment prohibits state and local governments from forcing retailers to convey the government’s message, particularly where that message is misleading, contrary to science, and contrary to the retailers’ own views." Berkeley didn’t comment.

AT&T has increased its administrative fee twice in recent months, which will likely lift annual revenue by $800 million and boost post-paid average revenue per user by $1, BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk wrote Wednesday. “The Administrative Fee first appeared on the bills of AT&T wireless customers back in the second quarter of 2013, generating some unfavorable press,” he wrote. “2013 also happened to be the last time AT&T reported an increase in post-paid ARPU.”

Nearly two-thirds of teens say they wish they could “self-limit” the time they spend on their smartphones, reported the Screen Education advocacy group Thursday. Screen Education, which bills itself as “dedicated to mitigating the negative consequences of screen addiction,” canvassed just over 1,000 teens online in April and found 68 percent said they attempted to reduce smartphone use, and 37 percent said they tried to persuade a friend to do so.

Verizon will no longer sell mobile customers’ real-time locations to two third-party data brokers “to prevent misuse of that information,” it wrote Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a response which he released Tuesday. AT&T said it's also ending the practice. Verizon sold the data to LocationSmart and Zumigo, which then resold it to other companies. “We conducted a comprehensive review of our location aggregator program,” wrote Verizon Chief Privacy Officer Karen Zacharia. “We are initiating a process to terminate our existing agreements for the location aggregator program.” She said Verizon won’t sign new agreements “unless and until we are comfortable that we can adequately protect our customers’ location data through technological advancements and/or other practices.” AT&T did the same, a spokesperson said. “Our top priority is to protect our customers’ information, and, to that end, we will be ending our work with aggregators for these services as soon as practical in a way that preserves important, potential lifesaving services like emergency roadside assistance.” “Sounds like word hasn’t gotten to you, @ronwyden,” tweeted T-Mobile CEO John Legere. “I’ve personally evaluated this issue & have pledged that @tmobile will not sell customer location data to shady middlemen.” T-Mobile also responded more formally to Wyden. Sprint said it takes steps to protect customer privacy. Wyden noted the Verizon and AT&T statements in a tweet.

T-Mobile offered inducements for some AT&T customers to switch to its network Thursday. “Last week, AT&T hiked up rates on some of their unlimited ‘grandfathered’ customers, the third increase in just the last two years,” T-Mobile said. “Those poor AT&T customers are now paying 50 percent more than originally. Quick, someone get AT&T execs a dictionary -- that’s not how ‘grandfathering’ works.” T-Mobile bills this as its “Why the Hike” offer. T-Mobile CEO John Legere often refers to AT&T and Verizon as “Dumb and Dumber.” The price hike “seals it,” Legere said. “AT&T is ‘Dumber’ for sure.” The offer applies to some AT&T customers with data unlimited for iPhone plans. AT&T didn't comment.

About 67 percent of global consumers surveyed have streamed live video, and more than half prefer free, ad-supported streams over subscription services, the Interactive Advertising Bureau reported Wednesday. Smartphones are the most popular streaming device, with smart TVs second, said the survey of 4,200 adults in 21 countries.

Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif.; Mike Bishop, R-Mich.; Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.; and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, reintroduced the Ensuring National Constitutional Rights for Your Private Telecommunications (Encrypt) Act Thursday. The bill would establish a national policy for the interstate issue of encryption technology, pre-empting state and local government encryption laws. “As a computer science major, I can tell you that having 50 different mandatory state-level encryption standards is bad for security, consumers, innovation, and ultimately law enforcement,” Lieu said. His office said Encrypt has the support of the App Association, Information Technology Industry Council, Developers Alliance, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Engine and Internet Association. Computer & Communications Industry Association CEO Ed Black welcomed the bill's introduction: "A state-by-state patchwork of varying mandates is anathema to the quintessentially borderless nature of the Internet."

Common Sense was among those backing Apple's time management features in iOS 12, announced Monday. Users can view a dashboard to see time they spend with apps and websites, said Apple. "We’re offering our users detailed information and tools to help them better understand and control the time they spend with apps and websites, how often they pick up their iPhone or iPad during the day and how they receive notifications,” said Craig Federighi, senior vice president-software engineering. Tools in the new Screen Time feature let users manage device time, and Apple expanded the Do Not Disturb feature for mobile devices in bedtime mode, which dims the display and hides all notifications on the lock screen until morning. This shows it's "possible to make tech products work better for all of us,” said Common Sense CEO James Steyer. He quoted industry figures saying kids and teens spend six to nine hours a day in front of digital screens and said management of notifications will cut down on distraction and make it easier to remind kids to put down their devices. The features will be available this fall, Apple said. The company announced a health records application programming interface for developers and researchers to create an ecosystem of apps that use health record data to manage medications, nutrition plans and diagnosed diseases. The Health Records feature lets patients of more than 500 hospitals and clinics access medical information from various institutions organized into one view on their iPhone. Health data is encrypted on the iPhone and protected with the consumer’s iPhone passcode, Apple said. When consumers elect to share their health record data with trusted apps, the data moves directly from HealthKit to the third-party app and isn't sent to Apple’s servers, it said.

The DOJ Inspector General should open a new investigation of the agency’s alleged misleading of Congress on encryption back doors (see 1805230027 and 1805300050), wrote the American Civil Liberties Union, Free Press, FreedomWorks, New America’s Open Technology Institute, R Street Institute, TechFreedom and about a dozen other civil society groups Monday to the IG. The probe should determine how the FBI made errors in reporting the scope of its “going dark” issue, why Justice officials knowingly cited false figures and what the department is doing to inform lawmakers, the group said. “This latest misstep, combined with the Inspector General’s conclusion that the FBI intentionally slow-rolled its efforts to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s encrypted iPhone, makes clear that everyone should be seriously questioning the FBI’s credibility and reliability in the encryption debate,” said Open Technology Institute Policy Counsel and Government Affairs Lead Robyn Greene. The IG didn't comment.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., demanded action Friday from the FCC and carriers, after the Department of Homeland Security revealed evidence of cellsite simulator, or StingRay, activity near the White House (see 1804180051). It's "of particular concern [given] reports that the President isn’t even using a secure phone to protect his calls,” Wyden said. “The cavalier attitude toward our national security appears to be coming from the top down.” The DHS letter shows criminal hackers and foreign spies potentially threatening national and personal security, Wyden said. The department also confirmed reports “that ‘nefarious actors may have exploited’ a weakness in phone networks known as SS7, ‘to target the communications of American citizens,’” Wyden said. The FCC didn’t comment.