Public Workshop on Broadband Consumer Privacy
Washington, D.C. – The Wireline Competition and Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureaus announce that a public workshop will be held to explore the Commission’s role in protecting the privacy of consumers that use broadband Internet access service, on April 28 starting at 10 a.m. at FCC headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Commission long has recognized that “[c]onsumers’ privacy needs are no less important when consumers communicate over and use broadband Internet access than when they rely on [telephone] services.”1 Most recently, the 2015 Open Internet Order (Order) took certain steps to apply core statutory protections to broadband Internet access service, including section 222 of the Communications Act.2 Among other protections, section 222 imposes a duty on every telecommunications carrier to protect the confidentiality of its customers’ information and imposes restrictions on carriers’ ability to use, disclose, or permit access to customers’ individually identifiable customer proprietary network information (CPNI) without their approval.3 In the Order, however, the Commission forbore from applying the rules that it had previously adopted governing telephone carriers’ handling of CPNI, which it found would not necessarily “be well suited to broadband Internet access service.”4
The staff-led workshop will provide an opportunity for diverse stakeholders to explore a range of matters associated with the application of statutory privacy protections to broadband Internet access service. Participants will also have the opportunity to address whether and to what extent the Commission can apply a harmonized privacy framework across various services within the Commission’s jurisdiction.
What: Workshop on Broadband Consumer Privacy
Date: April 28, 2015
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Commission Meeting Room, FCC Headquarters, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554
Members of the public are invited to attend. The Commission will also provide audio and video coverage of the discussion on the FCC’s Web page at www.fcc.gov/live.
Open captioning will be provided for this event. Other reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request. Please include a description of the accommodation needed. Individuals making such requests must include their contact information should FCC staff need to contact them for more information. Requests should be made as early as possible. Please send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY), or 844-432-2275 (ASL videophone).
For more information, please contact Parul Desai at 202-418-8217 / Parul.Desai@fcc.gov or Melissa Kirkel at 202-418-7958 / Melissa.Kirkel@fcc.gov.
For more news and information about the FCC, please visit www.fcc.gov.
1 Appropriate Framework for Broadband Access to the Internet Over Wireline Facilities et al., CC Docket Nos. 02-33, 01-337, 95-20, 98-10, WC Docket Nos. 04-242, 05-271, Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 20 FCC Rcd 14853, 14930, para. 148 (2005).
2 Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet, GN Docket No. 14-28, Report and Order on Remand, Declaratory Ruling, and Order (rel. March 12, 2015) (Order).
3 47 U.S.C. § 222(a), (c)(1).
4 Order para. 467.