The vote came in Thursday, and in a 3-2 vote along party lines, the FCC gave initial approval for proposed privacy regulations that would require ISPs to obtain consent from consumers before they can collect and share certain data. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) also puts forward requirements to protect personal information and report data breaches. Details of the proposal are available here.
The scope of the NPRM is limited to broadband service providers, and does not apply to the privacy practices of web sites and other “edge services.” It also does not include other services of a broadband provider, such as the operation of a social media website, or issues such as government surveillance, encryption or law enforcement.
Not everyone was happy, including the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
“Today’s FCC action unfortunately mistakes a good headline for actual headway in advancing consistent standards of privacy protection and fair competition. Under the FCC’s proposal, ISPs would have far more onerous requirements than the ones imposed on other large online entities that have access to a wider range of user information than ISPs,” the NCTA says in a statement.
The association points out that recently, a cross-section of the broadband industry put forward what it calls a technology-neutral privacy framework guided by principles of transparency, data security and consumer choice.
“In contrast, today’s FCC proposal will only lead to greater consumer confusion about how their online data is protected, rather than furthering an approach grounded in greater consistency and fairness among all Internet participants,” NCTA states. “As broadband providers long committed to protecting the privacy of our customers, we hope that a more considered review of the facts and the potential negative consequences of its proposal will convince the Commission to move in a different direction.”
On the pro side were some advocacy groups like Public Knowledge, which cheered the FCC proposal as a step forward to protecting consumers’ economic and dignitary rights in their own data.
“As gatekeepers to the Internet, [ISPs] have, by their very nature, access to every bit of data that their customers send and receive online. And, as they move aggressively into advertising markets, they have every incentive to exploit their access to this data and remove all consumer agency in determining where and for what purpose their personal data is used,” Meredith Rose, staff attorney at Public Knowledge says.
“Without clear guidelines on how this data can be used, consumers face a very real threat of having personal data exposed, sold to third parties without their knowledge, or misused in other fashions,” Rose adds.
Expect a lot more opinions to flow freely on “additional or alternative paths to achieve pro-consumer, pro-privacy goals,” as the FCC puts its request for further comment. The public comment period on the rules now begins, after which the FCC will hold a final vote on the proposal.
Filed Under: Industry regulations