National Broadband Plan Pushes for Advertising Improvements

The FCC National Broadband Plan calls for more transparency in broadband advertising, better personal data protection and consumer access to accurate information, said Chief Joel Gurin of the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau. The agency meanwhile is expected to work more closely with the Federal Trade Commission, he told a conference hosted by the Association of National Advertisers. “We always look for opportunities to work with FTC."

The plan proposes that Congress, the FTC and the FCC clarify the relationship between users and their online profiles. It also urged Congress to consider helping spur development of trusted “identity providers” to assist consumers in managing their data in a manner that maximizes the privacy and security of the information. The plan recommends the FCC and FTC jointly develop principles to require that customers provide informed consent before broadband service providers share certain types of information with their parties. The plan urged the FCC, in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to establish technical broadband measurement standards and methods and a process for updating them. It urged the commission to encourage the formation of a partnership of industry and consumer groups to provide input on the standards.

The goal is to provide consumers with more information about the speed and performance of services, the gap between actual and advertised speeds, other available services and what applications different broadband offerings support, Gurin said. There’s still a lot of consumer confusion in the retail broadband market, he said. Better informing consumers is a proven method to promote meaningful competition and spur innovation, he said.

The plan acknowledges expanded advertising opportunities through personal data innovation, Gurin said. But the impact hasn’t always been positive to consumers, he said. The plan includes digital literacy proposals on better educating kids on choosing content, Gurin said. Media now, he said, are “dramatically different than it was when Children’s Television Act was enacted 20 years ago.”