Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On May 20, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released an Enforcement Advisory announcing that its previously-released Open Internet Order “applies the core customer privacy protections of Section 222 of the Communications Act to providers of broadband Internet access service” and that the statutory provisions of Section 222, which historically have been used to protect Consumer Proprietary Network Information on telephone networks, will apply to broadband providers when the Open Internet Order goes into effect on June 12, 2015. This approach will expand broadband providers’ requirements to protect consumer privacy and limit their use of consumer data.

The FCC also indicated that it will provide both formal and informal guidance to broadband providers, but advised that in the meantime the Enforcement Bureau will focus on whether broadband providers are “taking reasonable, good-faith steps” to protect consumer privacy. It also advised broadband providers to “employ effective privacy protections in line with their privacy policies and core tenets of basic privacy protections” and informed them that they may request advisory opinions to gain further insight as to whether a planned action is compliant with the Open Internet Order.