A Rethink is Needed on the FCC’s Proposed Broadband Privacy Rules

When Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed new rules for broadband privacy, he promised to “listen and learn from the public and [Internet service providers] before we adopt final, enforceable, rules of the road.” Well, the public’s verdict on Chairman Wheeler’s plan to abandon the Federal Trade Commission’s well-tested and effective approach to online privacy and replace it with heightened and inconsistent rules for broadband providers alone is now in – and the result is clear. An overwhelming majority of the expert comments filed to date have urged the FCC to change course.

The record makes clear that the best course is for the FCC to abandon its flawed approach and harmonize privacy regulation for broadband providers with the well-established and effective approach implemented and consistently endorsed by the FTC and the Obama Administration for many years and that has both protected consumers’ privacy and fostered unprecedented innovation, investment, and broadband adoption. This is the core of the Consensus Privacy Framework first submitted by a wide range of industry participants to Chairman Wheeler in March, which is a more efficient, pro-consumer and pro-innovation alternative. Chairman Wheeler promised to review the record and listen to the public. If he is to keep that promise, the FCC must change course.