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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday March 21 2017, @12:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the I'll-determine-what's-sensitive dept.

ISPs that want the federal government to eliminate broadband privacy rules say that your Web browsing and app usage data should not be classified as "sensitive" information.

"Web browsing and app usage history are not 'sensitive information,'" CTIA said in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission yesterday. CTIA is the main lobbyist group representing mobile broadband providers such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, and Sprint.

The FCC rules passed during the Obama administration require ISPs to get opt-in consent from consumers before sharing sensitive customer information with advertisers and other third parties. The FCC defined Web browsing history and app usage history as sensitive information, along with other categories such as geo-location data, financial and health information, and the content of communications. If the rules are overturned, ISPs would be able to sell this kind of customer information to advertisers.

The opt-in rules are scheduled to take effect on or after December 4, 2017, but ISPs have petitioned the FCC to eliminate the rules before that happens. The latest CTIA filing was a reply to groups that opposed the petition to overturn the rules.

In making its argument that Web browsing and app usage history are not sensitive information, CTIA said that the Federal Trade Commission has taken a different stance than the FCC.

"To justify diverging from the FTC's framework and defining Web browsing history as 'sensitive,' the commission and the [privacy rule supporters] both cherry-picked evidence in an attempt to show that ISPs have unique and comprehensive access to consumers' online information," CTIA wrote. "As the full record shows, however, this is simply not true. Indeed, even a prominent privacy advocacy organization asserted that it is 'obvious that the more substantial threats for consumers are not ISPs,' but rather other large edge providers."

Source: ArsTechnica


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  • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday March 21 2017, @08:39PM (1 child)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Tuesday March 21 2017, @08:39PM (#482382) Journal

    I was thinking of the law being used to force people to buy "solutions", not get rid of the problem. Not buying a solution is not only unAmerican and a drag on the economy, it's illegal.

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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 21 2017, @09:05PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 21 2017, @09:05PM (#482393) Journal

    It really sounds like we're thinking the same way. The problem must exist. An expensive solution must exist. The problem must not be outlawed. Rather the problem must be mandated. Even the solution must be mandated -- for a price.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.