Let’s face it: The residential phone line is on the verge of suffering the same fate as the 8-track tape. Anyone who doesn’t know what an 8-track tape is most assuredly uses a cell phone—and only a cell phone—to communicate. Email takes too long. And younger generations don’t even use the actual phone part of … Continue Reading
As expected, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has handed down sweeping new privacy and security rules for Internet service providers (ISPs). On Thursday, October 27, 2016, a sharply divided commission voted to enact these new rules, which impose strict new requirements for ISPs’ collection, use, sharing, and protection of their customers’ information, including information ISPs … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
The Internet has transformed the ways that we access, consume, and use information. For years, debates have raged in both the United States and Europe over so-called “network neutrality”—the extent to which the government should require entities that provide Internet access services to treat the content that they transmit equally. In the past several months, … Continue Reading
The Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC’s) newly promulgated Open Internet rules (2015 rules)—also known as the net neutrality rules—went into effect on June 12, 2015.1 The new rules apply specifically to broadband Internet access service providers, and not to Internet content, application, and device providers (edge providers). Nonetheless, by design, the rules will have a potentially … Continue Reading
On July 10, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its long-anticipated Declaratory Ruling and Order1 addressing twenty-one petitions and requests seeking clarification of, and relief from, various provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the FCC’s implementing regulations.2 The order provides some much-needed clarity in certain areas, but commentators have generally concluded … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
On March 27, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) addressed an outstanding petition1 seeking guidance for compliance with the “prior express consent” requirement of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for informational text messages.2 In a declaratory ruling, the FCC provided clarification of this requirement, and specifically addressed whether an intermediary may provide such consent. … Continue Reading
Telecommunications carriers must take precautions to protect call and location data stored on customers’ devices, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).1 As discussed in a prior WSGR Eye on Privacy article,2 the FCC reacted to the carriers’ use of Carrier IQ to collect customers’ call information, despite its data security vulnerabilities. The FCC sought … Continue Reading
Congress enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)1 on December 20, 1991, to address certain telephone and facsimile marketing practices that Congress found to be an invasion of consumer privacy. In general, and among other things, the TCPA prohibits unsolicited fax advertisements and automated or prerecorded calls (interpreted to include text messages) to cellular telephones … Continue Reading
