FCC Imposes ISP Privacy Rules and Takes Aim At Mandatory Arbitration (arstechnica.com) 51
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Federal Communications Commission today imposed new privacy rules on Internet service providers, and the Commission said it has begun working on rules that could limit the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in the contracts customers sign with ISPs. The new privacy rules require ISPs to get opt-in consent from consumers before sharing Web browsing data and other private information with advertisers and other third parties. The rules apply both to home Internet service providers like Comcast and mobile data carriers like Verizon Wireless. The commission's Democratic majority ensured the rules' passage in a 3-2 vote, with Republicans dissenting. Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn was disappointed that the rules passed today did not include any action on mandatory arbitration clauses that prevent consumers from suing ISPs. But Chairman Tom Wheeler said that issue will be addressed in a separate rule-making. In the case of privacy rules, the FCC passed the NPRM in March and the final rules today. Clyburn argued that the FCC could have imposed mandatory arbitration restrictions today, because the privacy NPRM sought public comment about whether to ban mandatory arbitration. Under the FCC rules, ISPs that want to share consumer data with third parties such as advertisers must obtain opt-in consent for the most sensitive information and give customers the ability to opt out of sharing less sensitive information. Here's how the FCC describes the new opt-in and opt-out requirements: "Opt-in: ISPs are required to obtain affirmative 'opt-in' consent from consumers to use and share sensitive information. The rules specify categories of information that are considered sensitive, which include precise geo-location, financial information, health information, children's information, Social Security numbers, Web browsing history, app usage history, and the content of communications.
Opt-out: ISPs would be allowed to use and share non-sensitive information unless a customer 'opts-out.' All other individually identifiable customer information -- for example, e-mail address or service tier information -- would be considered non-sensitive, and the use and sharing of that information would be subject to opt-out consent, consistent with consumer expectations. Exceptions to consent requirements: Customer consent is inferred for certain purposes specified in the statute, including the provision of broadband service or billing and collection. For the use of this information, no additional customer consent is required beyond the creation of the customer-ISP relationship." ISPs must clearly notify customers about the types of information they collect, specify how they use and share the information, and identify the types of entities they share the information with.
passage in a 3-2 vote, with Republicans dissenting (Score:1)
Fuckers. Small government my ass, they're just sellouts.
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Could be 1865. The party of Lincoln is as dead as he is.
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You don't actually even care if you make sense any more, do you?
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big business (Score:1)
The Republicans are for BIG corporate business. And when you realize this, they don't look like hypocrites regarding their stances on things.
If BIG business had a problem with anti-abortion, your can bet your ass that The Republicans would be pro-choice and fuck their base.
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Did I near a "whoosh" sound, or are you really serious?
If you are serious and you think that, in the past decade, the republicans have put citizen privacy before businesses, then I have a very nice bridge to sell you.
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If you are serious and you think that, in the past decade, the republicans have put citizen privacy before businesses, then I have a very nice bridge to sell you.
Is that bridge open?
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How exactly is "You can't sell my information without my permission" NOT a privacy law protection ?
>this is protectionism by the incumbents to prevent competition.
Yeah, republicans say this about ALL regulations up to and including antitrust law. It may be true sometimes, but you've been crying this wolf so many times the ony thing sane people can do is assume it's NEVER true.
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Fuckers. Small government my ass, they're just sellouts.
You know, I hate the whole either-you're-R-or-D thing and I hate being called one or the other, but whenever some obviously corrupt shit is happening, there's never any question as to which party is on the wrong side. Every. Time.
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Can I just stay in Europe? Saves you the money and me the hassle.
Love the new FCC (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know what's gotten into this new FCC, but I love it. I can't think of a single organization that is currently doing more for the consumer than these guys. It's like a consumer friendly tiger, or baby-safe Harambe if you will.
I wonder how long it will take until the Comcast/Verizon/AT&T lobby shuts them down via congress.
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And by "disruptive innovation", you mean "selling their customers' private information to the highest bidder"?
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Don't forget "charging double for other websites not owned by the ISP to be useful".
Re:Love the new FCC (Score:5, Insightful)
I think the FCC caught these companies off guard.... the broadband providers weren't expecting to be regulated, so
they didn't make the right investments in getting the regulators bought off, and ensuring cronies were appointed to the
commissions: Also, an opportunity has not yet presented itself to get FCC board people replaced;
these folks are in for an entire administration, and it would take something like a new president coming into office,
to give major carriers a shot at re-populating the board with their own people.....
I expect things will be dramatically different in the upcoming years, as the broadband providers
make larger investments in buying more politicians, and getting laws changed through congressional lobbying, and
more influence in the selection of FCC commissioners through bought-and-paid-for government executives.
Re: Love the new FCC (Score:4)
I get the feeling Wheeler is one of those rare people who just does his job as well as he possibly can without much caring who he is doing it for. When he led their trade association he fought for everything they wanted, when he got the job as FCC chairman - he decided to be the best FCC chairman he could be and now he was representing the people as hard as he once represented the ISPs.
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It's funny because a *lot* of people criticised his appointment due to his previous industry appointment. It looks like he turned out to be a pretty good pick after all. If anything, his background probably comes with a lot of knowledge about the skeletons various industry players have hiding in their closets.
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>It's funny because a *lot* of people criticised his appointment due to his previous industry appointment
Indeed, and 99 out of 100 times - they would be right, nearly all revolving-door candidates end up being terrible. He seems to be the 1/100 exception.
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The FCC is doing some good, but the CFPB [consumerfinance.gov] is doing more.
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Are you calling me a baby?
Because if you are..... WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
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The fact that it passed means the ISPs already have a work around ready and now that rules have been out in place theres no risk of something actually effective coming down any time soon.
I'm guessing they'll either legally structure themselves in a way that the "ISP" isn't sharing the info, their "billing" or "customer service" subsidiary is.
it's a start, but what about everything else? (Score:1)
Removing ISP tracking shit is a start, but that's only a tip of an iceberg. What about all the other tracking shit around the web that nobody opts into? Shit, every page has got google-analytics and two dozen other random data-broker scripts.
Yes, yes, yes, it might be possible to block a lot of that, but most people have no idea it's even happening, leave alone how, and disabling scripting breaks a lot of sites.
The web is one giant cesspool of tracking shit.
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From the FCC's fact sheet for the regulation:
Boilerplate auto check (Score:3, Informative)
You have to go five levels deep in the menu to opt out.
In real countries, you have to separately sign and date any opt-in that gives away your privacy, and the default is No.
What authority does the FCC have to do this? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm also not a fan of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats making rules that have the force of law.
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I'm also not a fan of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats making rules that have the force of law.
Um, like the FAA does? You'd rather have all the aviation experts in Congress dictate how aircraft are maintained and crews are trained?
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Those bureaucrats have only the powers delegated to them, through laws passed by elected legislators. The Constitution gives Congress "authority to regulate foreign and interstate commerce". Then Congress passes laws, like the Communications Act of 1934 (which established the FCC), empowering various agencies to "execute and enforce" their laws.
From the Communications Act:
"For the purpose of regulating interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make available, so far as po
Problem (Score:1)
Here's the problem. Every piece of online activity at all stages are being tracked.
- Gmail/Hotmail/Yahoo Mail being tracked by the companies
- Email services easily accessible by the government - US AND CANADA
- Social media Facebook/twitter tracking on virtually every website out there.
- Even if you don't social media accounts, they are being embedded in all news websites giving them information to track you on.
- Click tracking by services like bit.ly, facebook and google
- Google tracking with their fonts ho
Oh Sure... (Score:1)
AT&T is really gonna let that happen....
it would make them instant criminals. Not that it stopped them in the past, but it would instantly put them on the hook.
This won't pass, AT&T won't stand for it. Too much revenue at stake!