FCC Proposes Information Sharing to Promote Public Safety by Amendments to Part 4 of the Commission's Rules Concerning Disruptions to Communication - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
On February 28, the Federal Communications Commission proposed a framework for sharing detailed communications outage and infrastructure status information with state and other federal agencies to improve situational awareness, enhance their ability to respond more quickly to outages affecting their communities, and help save lives, while also preserving the confidentiality of this data.
The FCC supports the nation's emergency response and preparedness efforts by collecting and providing accurate and timely information on the status of communications services and infrastructure through the its Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) and Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). During disasters, the Commission makes this information available to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which uses it to assess the needs of affected areas and to coordinate emergency response efforts with state and local first responders. NORS and DIRS provide critical information about significant disruptions or outages to communication services, including among others, wireline, wireless, cable, broadcast (radio and television), satellite, and interconnected VoIP, as well as communications disruptions affecting Enhanced 9-1-1 facilities and airports. Given the sensitive nature of this data to both national security and commercial competitiveness, the outage data is presumed to be confidential.
The proposed rule changes would provide direct, read-only access to the FCC’s NORS and DIRS filings to qualified agencies of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Tribal nations, territories, and the federal government that reasonably require the information to prepare for or respond to an event that threatens public safety, and which can maintain the confidentiality of the data.
Quick Facts
- The FCC’s proposal would allow participating agencies to share NORS and DIRS information with first responders and other government officials who play a vital public safety role in their jurisdictions during crises. Participating agencies would also be allowed to publicly disclose information that is appropriately aggregated and anonymized.
- To protect sensitive communications status data, participating agencies would be required to treat NORS and DIRS filings as confidential. In addition, the FCC proposed an application process that would grant agencies access to this information only after certifying to requirements for maintaining the confidentiality of the data and the security of the databases.
Comment and Reply Dates
On April 1, 2020, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released a Public Notice announcing the following comment and reply dates for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
- Comments are due: April 30, 2020
- Reply Comments are due: June 1, 2020
The complete Notice of Proposed Rule Making and related materials can be found on the Commission’s website at: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-proposes-promoting-public-safety-through-fed-state-info-sharing-0
The complete Public Notice can be found on the Commission’s website at: https://www.fcc.gov/document/pshsb-announces-comment-dates-fed-state-info-sharing-proposals
For further information, please contact Brenda Villanueva of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau at (202) 418-7005 or Brenda.Villanueva@fcc.gov.