FCC Reminds ISPs They Must Protect the Privacy of Consumers Under Net Neutrality Rules

The FCC Enforcement Bureau cautioned ISPs the agency will be watching to ensure that the privacy of consumers is protected after the agency’s net neutrality order takes effect June 12. The order “applies the core customer privacy protections of Section 222 of the Communications Act to providers of broadband Internet access service,” the Wednesday notice reminds ISPs. The FCC may offer additional guidance, the bureau said. Until then “the Enforcement Bureau intends to focus on whether broadband providers are taking reasonable, good-faith steps to comply with Section 222, rather than focusing on technical details,” the bureau said. “By examining whether a broadband provider’s acts or practices are reasonable and whether such a provider is acting in good faith to comply with Section 222, the Enforcement Bureau intends that broadband providers should employ effective privacy protections in line with their privacy policies and core tenets of basic privacy protections.”