In Letter to FCC, Free Press Rebuts Industry Efforts to Weaken Privacy Protections

Free Press filed a letter with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler arguing in favor of the agency’s role to protect Internet users against privacy abuses by broadband providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. Broadband providers have recently pushed for weakened protections that would allow them to expand their use of customers’ personal data. Internet users want and need updated safeguards to protect their private information from unauthorized disclosure and abuse, the Free Press letter argues, offering a point-by-point rebuttal of industry efforts to spread confusion and misinformation about the agency’s obligations under Section 222 of the Communications Act.

Free Press Policy Counsel Gaurav Laroia made the following statement: “[Internet service providers] have been pushing for weak rules that would allow them to violate their customers’ privacy and sell their private data to the highest bidder. In their letters to the FCC, ISPs have argued the Commission should ignore the congressional mandate to protect users’ privacy. The law is clear: The FCC must pursue strong rules, as obligated by Section 222 of the Communications Act. Congress created a privacy template for telecom users grounded in customer choice and control over their private information. As the FCC deliberates, it should respect the rule of law and prohibit ISPs from exploiting and misusing their customers’ private information.”