Comrs. Copps and Adelstein Tues. called on the FCC to give immedi...
Comrs. Copps and Adelstein Tues. called on the FCC to give immediate attention to regulations requiring phone companies to better protect customer information from being sold by data brokers, the subject of a wave of news reports last week…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
(CD Jan 17 p5). The Electronic Privacy Information Center called on the Commission last summer to protect customer records, but the FCC hasn’t acted on its petition. “The reported abuses highlight the critical need to protect Americans’ personal and private information,” Copps said. “Few rights are so fundamental as the right to privacy in our daily lives, yet few are under such constant attack.” Adelstein said he was “alarmed” by news reports that data brokers “are obtaining and selling customers’ personal telephone records without the customers’ consent or knowledge.” Adelstein also said Congress “recognized the sensitivity of this information” when it approved the Telecom Act of 1996, which prohibited phone companies from “using or disclosing certain proprietary customer information without the customer’s approval.” Adelstein worked on the act as an aide to former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).