Free Press Praises FCC's Final Broadband-Privacy Proposal

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission released key details on the broadband-privacy rules likely to come up for a vote at the agency’s Oct. 27 meeting.

That vote would be the culmination of a comprehensive rulemaking proceeding the FCC launched in March. During the course of this proceeding Free Press submitted extensive comments and other legal filings in support of internet-user privacy protections.

The proposal, outlined in a fact sheet (PDF) released today by the agency, builds on the FCC’s 2015 decision to reclassify broadband access as a telecom service under Title II of the Communications Act. That decision recognizes that internet service providers have congressionally mandated obligations to protect their customers’ privacy and obtain their consent before sharing their personal information.

Free Press Policy Counsel Gaurav Laroia made the following statement:

“Today’s announcement signals that the FCC is on track to restore people’s privacy rights against internet service providers’ unpermitted use of personal information.

“The FCC’s proposal follows the law, and stems from the agency’s rightful decision to treat broadband as a common-carrier service. The companies that carry all of our speech online and bring us to every destination on the internet have no business profiting from all the information they gather without our consent.

“There’s been a lot of lobbying on this matter from cable monopolies and internet giants alike. Broadband providers like AT&T and edge companies like Google have linked arms to call for weaker standards. Watered-down rules benefit these companies’ bottom lines, but they’re no substitute for ensuring that people have real choices when it comes to protecting their private information. When these companies complain, it’s important to remember that the FCC’s rules don’t ban marketing: They just enable internet users to control whether and how their personal information can be used.

“Today’s FCC fact sheet suggests that the agency could adopt some aspects of the Federal Trade Commission’s approach to internet privacy, making distinctions between sensitive and nonsensitive data. Thankfully, it looks like the FCC proposal defines sensitive data broadly, and doesn’t follow the ISPs’ entirely unworkable and invasive suggestion that the FCC should protect visits to some kinds of websites but not others. That industry-backed approach would put companies like Comcast right in the middle of private conversations, and put them in the business of reading our messages before they decide whether to protect them.

"Today’s announcement also says the FCC won’t allow pricing schemes that coerce people into giving up their privacy just to get internet access. Pay-for-privacy schemes that amount to a take-it-or-leave-it offer violate the law, and could deny internet access to people of color, low-income communities, or other typically underserved populations. The FCC should ban any broadband plan that purports to offer a discount in exchange for user data, but that in reality just penalizes people for choosing privacy.”