Remarks of FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to the Center for Democracy and Technology Forum on Data Privacy

On June 14, 2023, Federal Communications Commission Jessica Rosenworcel delivered remarks to the Center for Democracy and Technology Forum on data privacy, announcing a Privacy and Data Protection Task Force at the FCC. "First, we live in an era of always-on connectivity," said Rosenworcel. "Connection is no longer just convenient. It fuels every aspect of modern civic and commercial life. But too often this always-on connectivity—which has brought so many benefits—can mean a sacrifice of our privacy. Second, the monetization of data is big business. The cost of data storage has declined dramatically. The market incentives to keep our data and slice and dice it to inform commercial activity are enormous—and they are only growing." Rosenworcel continued, "Third, more money means more players. It used to be that in communications the relationship was primarily between a customer and his or her service provider. But the number of third parties participating in our digital age connections has multiplied exponentially." Rosenworcel stated the Task Force will have input in several ongoing efforts at the agency. These include an effort to modernize the FCC’s data breach rules and overseeing the investigations and enforcement actions that follow these data breaches. On top of that, the Task Force will help with the development of rules to crack down on SIM-swapping fraud. The Task Force will also play a role in our work under the Safe Connections Act. This was a law passed last year to help support access to communications for survivors of domestic violence. Finally, Rosenworcel announced that she is sharing a proposed enforcement action against "two companies that have put the security of communications customers at risk."