Ted Serra

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On March 31, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposed to establish new privacy guidelines for broadband Internet service providers (ISPs).1 The FCC designed the proposal to “ensure broadband customers have meaningful choice, greater transparency and strong security protections for their personal information collected by ISPs.”2 To accomplish this goal, the NPRM proposes to apply the privacy requirements of Section 222 of the Communications Act3 to ISPs that offer broadband Internet access service (or, in the NPRM’s terminology, “BIAS”).4 The FCC asserted that applying the privacy requirements set forth in Section 222 would “give broadband customers the tools they need to make informed decisions about how their information is used by their ISPs and whether and for what purposes [their information may be shared] with third parties.”5
Continue Reading ISPs Could Face New Privacy Regulations Under FCC Proposed Rulemaking

Making a splash with its first-ever data security enforcement actions, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) entered uncharted waters late last year by aggressively asserting its role in safeguarding consumer information. In the fall of 2014, for the first time, the FCC took administrative enforcement action in two instances against telecommunications carriers that misused data, misrepresented their data security efforts, and failed to appropriately secure customer data. The FCC’s efforts demonstrate that it believes it has a role to play in the wider privacy landscape, even as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has thus far taken the lead on privacy and data security enforcement.1
Continue Reading FCC Dives into Privacy and Data Security Enforcement

In early May, Theodore Moss, the CEO of online background-check provider Crimcheck.com, received a letter from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) notifying him that “recent test-shopping contacts” had indicated that his company was possibly selling consumer information unlawfully.1 Crimcheck.com provides background-check services to businesses conducting employment screenings for potential job candidates.2 Such companies, often referred to as “data brokers,” collect and compile information on individual consumers, drawing from public sources such as court databases and consumer credit records to piece together profiles of individuals’ financial, retail, recreational, and criminal behaviors.3 But it is precisely that assembling of detailed information on individuals—even information compiled from public sources—that can trigger provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, prompting the FTC to take a closer look at how these companies collect and use consumer information.
Continue Reading Policing Privacy: Undercover FTC Staff “Test-Shop” Data Brokers to Identify FCRA Violators