A federal court ruled that Washington regulators’ state telecom c...
A federal court ruled that Washington regulators’ state telecom customer privacy rules infringed on Verizon’s constitutional commercial free speech right to communicate with its customers. The ruling by Judge Barbara Rothstein, U.S. Dist. Court, Seattle, granted Verizon’s motion for…
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summary judgment (Case C02-2342R). The rules adopted by the Wash. Utilities & Transportation Commission (WYTC) in Jan. were to be the toughest telecom consumer privacy regulations in the nation. They would have barred Verizon from providing customer information to any affiliate or 3rd party and from using telecom customers’ records to market any products or services unrelated to telecom unless the customer agreed in advance to such use. The rules were stayed by the federal court in Feb. The court said Verizon had raised compelling questions about the constitutionality of the state’s new regulations. FCC rules allow customers who don’t want their personal information used for marketing purposes to opt out of information sharing, meaning the carrier must delete such information from any marketing lists it sells or uses. Verizon applauded the ruling, saying the court had recognized that the FCC’s privacy rules were working successfully in Wash., just as they were elsewhere. The WUTC said it was disappointed by the decision and was exploring its next legal steps.