FCC Proposes Fines for Wireless Location Data Violations

15 09 2020
EPIC
February 28, 2020
Today the FCC announced proposed fines against T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint for selling customers’ location information. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said: “This FCC will not tolerate phone companies putting Americans’ privacy at risk.” The companies are given an an opportunity to respond to the FCC before the Commission makes a final decision.
[ed: some pundits note that the amounts, when divided amoung the 4 companies, amount to little more than a slap on the wrist. All 4 companies have appealed the proposed ruling/fine and as of Sept, 2020, have not paid fines that are yet to be finalized by the FCC]

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Categories : Data Marketplace, Data Mining, FCC, FIP 1: No secret collections, FIP 2: Discover, FIP 3: One use, FIP 5: Protect the data you have, Privacy

Eclipsed by Evolving Law, Policy and Technology, Seminal Mobile Location Data Case Settled

19 08 2020

This past week, the operator of the popular Weather Channel (“TWC”) mobile phone app entered into a Stipulation of Settlement with the Los Angeles City Attorney, Mike Feuer (“City Attorney”), closing the books on one of the first litigations to focus on the collection of locational data through mobile phones. (People v. TWC Product and Technology, LLC, No. 19STCV00605 (Cal. Super., L.A. Cty, Stipulation Aug. 14, 2020)). While the settlement appears to allow TWC to continue to use locational information for app-related services and to serve advertising (as long the app includes some agreed-upon notices and screen prompts to consumers), what is glaringly absent from the settlement is a discussion of sharing locational information with third parties for purposes other than serving advertising or performing services in the app. Because applicable law, industry practice and the policies of Apple and Google themselves have narrowed the ability to share locational information for such purposes, the allegations of the case were, in a sense, subsumed in the tsunami of attention that locational information sharing has attracted. While some are viewing this settlement as a roadmap for locational information collection and sharing, in fact the settlement is quite narrow.

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https://newmedialaw.proskauer.com/2020/08/18/eclipsed-by-evolving-law-policy-and-technology-seminal-mobile-location-data-case-settled/

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Categories : Data Marketplace, Data Mining, FCC, FIP 1: No secret collections, FIP 2: Discover, FIP 3: One use, Privacy, State law

Commerce Dept. Petitions FCC to Issue Rules Clarifying CDA Section 230

18 08 2020

Proskauer
New Media and Technology Law  Blog
Jeffrey Neuburger
July 30, 2020

The currents around the Communications Decency Act just got a little more turbulent as the White House and executive branch try to reel in the big fish of CDA reform.

On July 27, 2020, the Commerce Department submitted a petition requesting the FCC initiate a rulemaking to clarify the provisions of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). . .

While a deep dive in the 57-page Commerce Department petition (or whether the FCC even has the legal authority to issue such rules in this area) is beyond the scope of this post, its reform proposals can be broken down into several areas. In brief, the Commerce Dept. has asked to FCC to:

  • Clarify the relationship between the more well-known §230(c)(1) “publisher” immunity for hosting third-party content and the lesser-utilized §230(c)(2) “Good Samaritan” immunity for filtering of objectionable content, lest they be read and applied in a manner that renders §230(c)(2) superfluous.
  • Amend the statute to specify that §230(c)(1) has no application to any provider`s decision to restrict access to content or terminate user accounts.
  • Provide clearer guidance on what content would be deemed “objectionable content” within §230(c)(2) and when removals are done in “good faith” (including proposing that filtering decision taken contrary to terms of service or without an adequate notice or process should fall outside the CDA).
  • Modify the language that defines under what circumstances a provider becomes an “information content provider” as per 47 U.S.C. § 230(f)(3) (“responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information”), and clarify when a provider`s content moderation practices take it outside of the protections of the CDA. The proposal requests that such providers should lose CDA protection when, for example, they make editorial decision that modify or alter content, “including but not limited to substantively contributing to, commenting upon, editorializing about, or presenting with a discernible viewpoint content provided by another information content provider.”
  • Mandate disclosure for internet transparency similar to that required of other internet companies, such as ISPs.

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Categories : FCC, Federal law, FIP 4: Repair

Update on FCC Privacy Rules

24 01 2018

Ava Childers

We previously reported on the FCC’s 2016 Privacy Order, “Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services” impacting Internet service providers’ data privacy practices and obligations and the corresponding timeline for compliance. Intervening events, however, have made the rules imposed by the 2016 Privacy Order moot. On June 26, 2017, the FCC adopted a new order providing guidance on reinstating the pre-2016 Privacy Order regulations. This order was issued pursuant to a joint resolution of Congress under the Congressional Review Act, signed by the President on April 3, 2017, disapproving the FCC’s 2016 Privacy Order. As a result, the 2016 Privacy Order has “no force or effect.” FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, stated that the purpose of the new order is to “simply make clear that the privacy rules that were in effect prior to 2016 are once again effective.”

 more

The content in this post was found at https://privacylaw.proskauer.com/2017/08/articles/fcc/update-on-fcc-privacy-rules/  Clicking the title link will take you to the source of the post. and was not authored by the moderators of privacynnewmedia.com. Clicking the title link will take you to the source of the post.

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Categories : FCC, FIP 1: No secret collections, FIP 2: Discover, FIP 3: One use, FIP 4: Repair, FIP 5: Protect the data you have, Privacy

Senate Dismantles FCC Broadband Privacy Rules

3 04 2017

Today the Senate voted to roll back the FCC’s broadband privacy rules which require internet service providers to obtain consumers’ consent for accessing sensitive information and required consumers to be notified of any data breaches. Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) blasted the vote stating that it is “Now easier for American’s sensitive information about their health, finances and families to be used, shared, and sold to the highest bidder without their permission.” EPIC had urged the FCC to establish comprehensive safeguards for consumer privacy.

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Categories : Data Marketplace, FCC, Federal law, FIP 3: One use, FIP 5: Protect the data you have, IoT, Privacy

Push for Internet Privacy Rules Moves to Statehouses

3 04 2017

Push for Internet Privacy Rules Moves to Statehouses

3/26/2017

Conor Dougherty

New York Times

    In the face of the Senate’s rollback on regulations preventing ISPs from monetizing information like a user’s browsing history, states like Illinois are now making moves towards increasing protections of their citizens’ privacy. In the case of Illinois, a “right to know” bill is in considering, which would “let consumers find out what information about them is being collected by companies like Google and Facebook, and what kinds of businesses they share it with.” Additionally, Illinois is looking to restrict smartphone tracking by applications in addition to audio recordings from TVs and wifi-enabled personal assistants.

    Obviously, other states could easily look to these laws should they be passed, hopefully spreading further than just Illinois. This would additionally make it more difficult for companies to work around, requiring specific features on a per-state basis. These laws, of course, fly in the face of what large corporate entities like Microsoft lobby for.

    While I’m appreciative of local state legislature for privacy, these laws feel a lot more like band-aids than legitimate solutions for the US. Protecting only a fraction of the country on a state-by-state basis is not ideal in that it creates pockets of lowered privacy. While it sounds ideal that other states may simply just adopt laws that Illinois or California have recently begun to push for, these regulations are the kind that should benefit all Americans, rather than just Illinoisans or Californians. If the majority of states prove that privacy is important to them and both the left and the right can prove that they can come together on these issues, there’s no reason that it should not just be the law of the land.

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Categories : Data Marketplace, Data Mining, FCC, FIP 1: No secret collections, FIP 2: Discover, FIP 3: One use, FIP 4: Repair, FIP 5: Protect the data you have, Legislation, Privacy, State law

What to expect now that Internet providers can collect and sell your Web browser history

3 04 2017

After Congress handed President Trump legislation Tuesday that would wipe away landmark privacy protections for Internet users, we received a lot of reader questions about what happens next. The legislation makes it easier for Internet providers, such as AT&T and Verizon, to collect and sell information such as your Web browsing history and app usage. But let’s get into the details: You wanted to know whether the measure could help the government dig up dirt on people. You asked how to protect your privacy. And some of you even asked if it would be possible to buy up the online browsing histories of Trump or members of Congress.

No, you won’t really be able to buy up President Trump’s browser history

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The content in this post was found at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/03/29/what-to-expect-now-that-internet-providers-can-collect-and-sell-your-web-browser-history/ Clicking the title link will take you to the source of the post. and was not authored by the moderators of privacynnewmedia.com. Clicking the title link will take you to the source of the post.

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Categories : Data Marketplace, Data Mining, FCC, FIP 1: No secret collections, FIP 2: Discover, FIP 3: One use, FIP 4: Repair, FIP 5: Protect the data you have, FTC, Privacy

FCC Chairman Goes After His Predecessor’s Internet Privacy Rules

28 02 2017

FCC Chairman Goes After His Predecessor’s Internet Privacy Rules

2/24/2017

Alina Slyukh

NPR

more

    Chairman Ajit Pai, the Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (and known opponent of net neutrality), has ordered others at the FCC to hold on the employment of certain aspects of new privacy rules meant to go into effect in the coming week. These rules mandate informing customers of Internet Service Providers’ collection and usage of their data.

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Categories : FCC, Privacy