FTC's Brill Urges 'Strong' FCC Privacy Rules
The FCC should pursue "strong" privacy rules in its upcoming rulemaking, FTC Commissioner Julie Brill said Saturday during a Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. The NPRM is expected to get a vote as early as the FCC’s Oct. 22 meeting and is likely to revive sharp divisions within the commission (see 1509110027 and 1509230063). Brill said she supports a dual FCC-FTC role in privacy protections for broadband users. She said Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband service “presents a rare opportunity to discuss consumer privacy in a specific context -- the relationship between consumers and their broadband providers.” FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai and FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen recently said the FTC is better equipped to protect privacy (see 1509020040).
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The FCC privacy rules debate should consider “that ISPs play a central and unique role in most consumers’ lives,” which is a strong argument in favor of the FCC’s decision to keep broadband providers under Communications Act Section 222, Brill said. “This law appropriately focuses on the role of carriers, rather than any particular type of activity that might be revealed in CPNI [customer proprietary network information],” she said. “This is a contrast to many of the other sector-specific privacy laws that we have in the United States.”
The FCC should also address personal data use equally with data disclosure, Brill said. Section 222 “addresses both disclosure and use,” while the current CPNI rule “sets rules for customer approval that are framed explicitly in terms of disclosure and use,” she said. “Addressing both disclosure and use in any forthcoming privacy policy” under net neutrality rules “will be important for protecting consumer privacy," Brill said. "The critical details -- such as whether it makes sense to create heightened protections for the disclosure and use of sensitive consumer data, and the form that consumer consent mechanisms should take -- can be developed through discussions in the months to come.”
The FCC also should make data security a “paramount” part of its privacy rules since security is “critical to ensuring that these networks are available for consumers to use at any time,” Brill said. Data security is “a critical aspect of ensuring that the service delivered to consumers is available and reliable,” she said. ISPs should “be held accountable for maintaining appropriate security for consumers’ data," Brill said: "I expect that there will be a lot more discussion about whether and to what extent to make data security part of any further policy that flows from” the FCC’s net neutrality rules.