Most commenters agree the FCC doesn’t have legal authority under the Communications Act to regulate data breaches beyond customer proprietary network information (CPNI), CTIA said in reply comments on a January NPRM on revised rules for wireless carriers to report breaches (see 2301060057). Most commenters also supported a harm-based trigger for notifications. But the FCC faced increasing pressure to take bold action to protect consumer data.
CTIA warned the FCC its ability to regulate data breaches of information beyond customer proprietary network information (CPNI) is constrained by law. Other provider groups' filings posted Thursday struck a similar tone. But the Electronic Privacy Information Center said it's time for the FCC to get tough.
Commenters raised concerns on a proposal by the University of Utah for an FCC waiver of citizens broadband radio service rules for its POWDER (Platform for Open Wireless Data-driven Experimental Research) platform, used for wireless research. Comments were due Monday in docket 22-257. The university asked for a waiver to use software-defined radio equipment to interact with the spectrum access system operator “within the POWDER Platform Innovation Zone” and for other exceptions to rules for the band. The university said it uses the platform as a “living laboratory that allows research in a real-world, spectrum realistic environment.”
FCC commissioners unanimously approved an NPRM on adoption of broadband consumer labels, as directed by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (see 2201260049), during their Thursday meeting. They also approved an order amending the definition of tribal libraries to clarify their eligibility for E-rate, the revocation of China Unicom Americas' Section 214 authority to operate in the U.S., and an order on reconsideration upholding a fine against a Texas company for signal jamming.
Big Tech’s entry into payment services could strengthen platform monopoly power, FTC Chair Lina Khan and consumer advocates told the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in comments last week.
The Senate Commerce Committee plans hearings next week on social media platforms’ impact on children and legislation aimed at addressing those companies’ use of algorithms to manipulate user experiences. Instagram head Adam Mosseri will testify at a Dec. 8 Consumer Protection Subcommittee panel on social media impacts on kids. The hearing will “address what Instagram knows about its impacts on young users, its commitments to reform, and potential legislative solutions,” Commerce said Wednesday. It will begin at 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell. Free Press co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez is among those set to testify at a Dec. 9 Communications Subcommittee hearing on “legislative solutions that address the dangers of online platforms’ use of technology to manipulate user experiences,” the committee said Thursday. Massachusetts Institute of Technology associate professor of marketing Dean Eckles, Atlantic Council Democracy & Tech Initiative Director Rose Jackson and Claremont Institute American Mind Executive Editor James Poulos will also testify at the hearing beginning at 10 a.m., also in 253 Russell. American Enterprise Institute Non-Resident Senior Fellow Daniel Lyons and University of California-Los Angeles law professor Eugene Volokh echoed other witnesses during a Wednesday night continuation of a House Communications Subcommittee hearing, raising misgivings about legislation to revamp Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2112010058). The hearing examined four Section 230-focused bills: the Protecting Americans from Dangerous Algorithms Act (HR-2154), Civil Rights Modernization Act (HR-3184), Safeguarding Against Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism, and Consumer Harms Act (HR-3421) and Justice Against Malicious Algorithms Act (HR-5596). “We tinker with this regime at our peril,” Lyons said. “Section 230 is woven into the fabric of online society, making it difficult to predict how a change to the statute would ripple throughout the internet ecosystem.” Volokh criticized HR-5596, which would remove Section 230 immunity when a platform “knowingly or recklessly uses an algorithm or other technology to recommend content that materially contributes to physical or severe emotional injury.” The measure “strikes me as a bad idea” because it would benefit professionally produced content that already has external marketing at the expense of user-generated submissions, he said.
The FCC or FTC is likely to investigate, and possibly impose sanctions on, T-Mobile for a data breach, experts said Wednesday. The breach included information from about 7.8 million current T-Mobile postpaid customer accounts and the records of more than 40 million former or prospective customers, T-Mobile said. Data from about 850,000 prepaid customers was also exposed. A Dish Network spokesperson confirmed that Boost customers weren’t affected.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are “pretty close” to reintroducing the Earn It Act (see 2008050039), without major changes anticipated, Blumenthal told us. He led a Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing Tuesday, where witnesses offered potential solutions for online child exploitation. Blumenthal and ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., criticized TikTok for refusing to testify.
Further changes to rules for the 6 GHz band could wait for the next administration, some speculated in interviews last week. Chairman Ajit Pai declined to seek a vote at the Dec. 10 commissioners' meeting and it's unclear if he will do more before he leaves Jan. 20 (see 2011180065).
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., withdrew his Section 230 legislation at Thursday’s markup, setting his sights on updating the tech industry’s liability shield in 2021. An amendment from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., which would establish a private right of action for individuals to sue platforms, failed 5-16 with support from one Democrat, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.