1. Monthly archive
  2. March 2017

March 2017

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Blackburn Pushing To Set Back Online Privacy Rakes In Industry Funds

The campaign contributions started small, with a handful of donations of a few thousand dollars each. In recent elections, however, it’s ballooned, with AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon each giving one of their favorite politicians in Congress between $15,000 and $20,000 every two years. All told, House Communications Subcommittee Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), author of a controversial resolution to let internet providers sell customers’ search histories to advertisers without notice or permission, has racked up well over half a million dollars in campaign donations from that industry over the course of her career. Privacy advocates are resoundingly against the resolution, designed to undo rules created by President Obama’s Federal Communications Commission in the waning days of his administration. The rules mandated internet providers like Comcast and Verizon get customers’ permission before offering sensitive search histories, like financial and health information, to marketers.

FCC Names Ombudsperson for Issues Related to Combating Contraband Wireless Devices

By this Public Notice, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) names Charles Mathias as the ombudsperson to serve as the single point of contact for issues related to contraband wireless devices in correctional facilities and the deployment of technologies used to combat this vital public safety problem. Mathias will also continue serving in his current position as Associate Chief in WTB.

White House Statement on Senate Resolution on Broadband Privacy Rule

The Administration strongly supports House passage of Senate Joint Resolution 34, which would nullify the Federal Communications Commission’s final rule titled "Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunication Services," 81 Fed. Reg. 87274 (December 2, 2016). The rule applies the privacy requirements of the Communications Act of 1934 to broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other telecommunications carriers. In particular, the rule requires ISPs to obtain affirmative "opt-in" consent from consumers to use and share certain information, including app usage and web browsing history. It also allows ISPs to use and share other information, including e-mail addresses and service tier information, unless a customer "opts-out." In doing so, the rule departs from the technology-neutral framework for online privacy administered by the Federal Trade Commission. This results in rules that apply very different regulatory regimes based on the identity of the online actor.

If SJ Res 34 were presented to the President, his advisors would recommend that he sign the bill into law.

House Minority Leader Pelosi calls on internet providers to oppose GOP bill to kill privacy rules

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is calling on a group of leading internet service providers to announce whether they support a GOP bill that would eliminate privacy protections. Minority Leader Pelosi came out against the measure and sent letters to AT&T, Century Link, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier, Optimum, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and Windstream asking for their positions on it. “Americans learned last week that agents of Russian intelligence hacked into e-mail accounts to obtain secrets on American companies, government officials and more,” Pelosi wrote. “This resolution would not only end the requirement you take reasonable measures to protect consumers’ sensitive information, but prevents the FCC from enacting a similar requirement and leaves no other agency capable of protecting consumers.”

Broadband ISPs’ Big Data Privacy Grab

[Commentary] The Internet service providers and ad-industry lobbyists disingenuously claim that having the Federal Trade Commission protect consumer privacy for all Internet companies, including ISPs and data giants like Google, is the most effective approach. It would be so, perhaps, if the FTC had any real clout.

The ISPs, data-marketing companies and their supporters are also fighting against the privacy rule because they know we are also on the eve of a new era — the Internet of Things — that will generate even more personal information about us. In today’s digital era, data is power. That’s why we shouldn’t let Congress and the broadband companies overturn the first real protections we can have. This will be an opportunity to challenge Donald Trump’s vision of the United States as principally a corporatist society where the welfare of commercial special interests is more important than the needs of the average American.

[Jeff Chester is executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a Washington-D.C.-based consumer digital rights group.]

FCC Privacy Rule Foes: Time for Hill Reset

Groups representing Internet service providers, tech companies and online advertisers said March 28 that congressional repudiation of the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy framework was a "vital step" toward creating a "truly comprehensive and effective privacy framework for the entire Internet based on the successful FTC approach." They also suggested talk of the collapse of privacy protections in the absence of the yet-to-be applied rules had a Chicken Little flavor to them.

Senators Introduce Community Broadband Act

US Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Edward Markey (D-MA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Angus King (I-ME), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Community Broadband Act to preserve and protect the rights of cities and localities to build municipal broadband networks. Municipal broadband can often provide an affordable, reliable option for rural and low-income communities that face persistent barriers to high-speed internet access.

“Internet access is an economic necessity in today's economy, but too many communities lack reliable access,” Senator Booker said. “I saw this problem first-hand as mayor of Newark. In places where reliable, high-speed internet access is lacking, some municipalities have bridged the gap by investing in and offering broadband internet to their residents. But barriers to municipal broadband networks remain. Our bill will help remove these barriers by giving cities the flexibility they need to meet the needs of their residents.” Specifically, the Community Broadband Act will amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to ban any state, local, or tribal statute or regulation that prohibits cities from providing high-speed internet.

© 1994-2024 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.