Broadband and Privacy Hearing recap

On Thursday, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to examine broadband provider practices with respect to consumer privacy. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Ranking Member on the Committee, called for increased transparency and disclosure for online advertising. Public Knowledge President and Co-Founder Gigi B. Sohn warned the Committee of the privacy intrusion that occurs when Internet Service Providers (ISPs) inspect detailed customer information using a technique called Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). She described DPI as: "To put it simply, Deep Packet Inspection is the Internet equivalent of the postal service reading your mail. They might be reading your mail for any number of reasons, but the fact remains that your mail is being read by the people whose job it is to deliver it." Sohn outlined the following principles a solution should have. ISPs must ensure that: 1) the purpose of the use of customer data is one which can be consistent with consumers' privacy expectations; 2) the amount and type of data collected is narrowly tailored to the proposed use, and that the data is not kept or disseminated to third parties past what is necessary to that use; and 3) customers have access to and actually receive adequate information about the proposed use, and have affirmatively and actively consented to any practices which could violate customers' expectations of privacy. Representatives of AT&T, Verizon Communications, and Time Warner Cable urged committee members to forgo passing new laws to regulate the use of targeted online advertising, instead advocating for a self-regulation of the industry to keep consumers' Web surfing habits secure and private.