Redressing the Privacy Balance for Internet Consumers

[Commentary] Today’s privacy rules are anything but clear. Internet content providers like Google, Facebook and Amazon are regulated for privacy by the Federal Trade Commission, the historic internet-privacy protection body. Internet-service providers that link consumers to the network, such as Verizon, AT&T and Comcast, were also regulated for privacy by the FTC until 2015, when the Federal Communications Commission classified internet access as a telecommunications service, stripping the FTC of that authority. Privacy is too important to be left to the whims of regulatory agencies.

Instead, Congress should consider taking an approach akin to the Browser Act (HR 2520), sponsored by Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), that would unify privacy rules across the internet under the FTC, from operating systems to browsers to ISPs to edge content providers.

[Rick Boucher was a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives from Virginia for 28 years and chaired the House Communications Subcommittee. He is honorary chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) and head of the government strategies practice at law firm Sidley Austin]