Cable, Wireless, CTA, Others Also Petition FCC to Reconsider Broadband Privacy Order

Cable, wireless and other parties asked the FCC to reconsider privacy rules targeting broadband ISPs, joining local telcos, advertising groups and Oracle which had also filed petitions in docket 16-106 (see 1701030051 and 1612220017). NCTA said the FCC should withdraw the "unsustainable" regulations approved by Democratic commissioners because they exceed the agency's authority, arbitrarily and capriciously depart from the FTC's "long-standing and effective privacy framework" covering all Internet players, infringe on ISP free speech, and create "unworkable and conflicting" data security requirements that will cause "overnotification to law enforcement and consumers of putative data breaches." The order "compounds the errors" from the FCC's "ill-advised decision to reclassify" broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, NCTA said. The American Cable Association said the order "goes off the rails because it makes material errors on the law, facts, and policy." The "train wreck" can't be salvaged and the rules should be eliminated, and, if necessary, replaced with a framework grounded in the FTC's "time-tested" regime, the ACA said. CTIA said the rules undermine the FCC's stated goals and should be vacated, modified or clarified. The agency should at least take certain steps, including to "limit the scope of information to which the Rules apply to customer proprietary network information (CPNI)," reconsider limits on ISP use of financial incentives in exchange for customer information, and narrow data-breach notifications, it said. The Competitive Carriers Association said the FCC regime "will undercut" internet competition by saddling ISPs "with unparalleled, restrictive data use and sharing rules without the benefits of actually protecting consumers" and without giving small providers "appropriate relief." The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association said the agency lacked legal authority and impermissibly combined the definition of CPNI with "personally identifiable information" and "content of communications" to create a broad new "customer proprietary information" category. If the commission determines it has authority, WISPA urged the agency to account for ISP/edge "asymmetry" that "its rules exacerbate" and provide further relief to small providers. CTA credited the FCC with improving its initial proposal but said its rules still fail "to ensure a coherent and consistent approach." Level 3 said the exemption for serving enterprise voice customers wasn't broad enough to account for differences with broadband access providers, and should be changed.