Inquiry launched as Congress debates bill that could gut FCC's privacy authority:
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has ordered mobile carriers to explain what geolocation data they collect from customers and how they use it. Rosenworcel's probe could be the first step toward stronger action—but the agency's authority in this area is in peril because Congress is debating a data privacy law that could preempt the FCC from regulating carriers' privacy practices.
Rosenworcel sent letters of inquiry Tuesday "to the top 15 mobile providers," the FCC announced. The chairwoman's letters asked carriers "about their policies around geolocation data, such as how long geolocation data is retained and why and what the current safeguards are to protect this sensitive information," the FCC said.
The letters also "probe carriers about their processes for sharing subscriber geolocation data with law enforcement and other third parties' data-sharing agreements. Finally, the letters ask whether and how consumers are notified when their geolocation information is shared with third parties," the FCC said.
[...] The FCC inquiry is important "in light of the long history of abuses by carriers selling this kind of detailed and hyper-accurate information to law enforcement, bounty hunters, and even stalkers," said Harold Feld, senior VP of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge. Mobile carriers "have unique access to highly accurate geolocation information—known as A-GPS—designed so that 911 responders can find a caller with pinpoint accuracy," and have "access to other information that can be combined with geolocation to produce a detailed picture of a person's activities far beyond what applications on the handset can provide," Feld said.
Although the FCC gave up its Title II authority over broadband under former Chairman Ajit Pai, Feld noted that the agency still has substantial authority over phone service. "The FCC has specialized power to force carriers to respond," Feld wrote. "It has the power to impose transparency requirements to reveal when law enforcement abuses the legal process to obtain deeply personal phone information. It has the power to require specific data minimization and data protection obligations if necessary. The FCC has used this power in the past to create new rules in response to revelations that stalkers had access to carrier information, and should not hesitate to use its regulatory powers again if necessary."
But Feld and others are concerned the FCC could be prevented from regulating the phone industry's privacy practices under bipartisan legislation that was approved by the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday. The American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADDPA) "makes the Federal Trade Commission the sole enforcement agency overseeing data privacy, with a few exceptions, preempting the role of the Federal Communications Commission," The Washington Post wrote.
[...] As van Schewick alluded to, the bill text has a section about "non-application of FCC privacy laws and regulations to covered entities," which says that many FCC rules "shall not apply to any covered entity with respect to the collecting, processing, or transferring of covered data under this Act."
Any bets on whether the new enforcement authority given to the FTC under the ADDPA will be weaker than what the FCC has now?
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FCC Does The Bare Minimum: Asks Wireless Carriers To Be Honest About Location Data:
It took fifteen years filled with constant scandal, but the FCC finally recently announced that it would be "cracking down on" wireless carrier abuse of consumer location data, thanks to pressure from our new post-Roe reality. This "crackdown" involves politely asking the nation's top wireless carriers to disclose what kind of location data they were collecting, and who they've been sharing and selling it to.
Wireless carriers have now shared their responses with the FCC, all of which have been posted to the agency's website:
[...] So basically the FCC is asking an industry with a history of lying about this stuff to be transparent about what they're collecting and selling, and if they're very clearly breaking fairly flimsy agency rules, they might face penalties. Someday. If those enforcements can survive an agency that's been intentionally vote gridlocked by the telecom industry.
[...] While there are some wireless carriers who claim to never collect or sell user location data, others (notably Verizon and AT&T) utilize familiar legalese to suggest the collection and sale of this data is tightly controlled, anonymous, and secure, despite the fact that, again, fifteen years of scandals have shown that's very much never been the case.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday July 26 2022, @04:25AM
Given that
and the nominated "watchdog" being FT(rade)C, it is only natural that the regulations will side with the $buck, citizens' privacy be damn'd (don't you dare even only leak info about corporate secrets)
Because there's that amendment to US Constitution saying that "the right of corporations to maximize profit shall not be infringed". Well, if there isn't one, it should be added to bring the Constitution in line with the actual reality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday July 26 2022, @06:19AM (2 children)
We collect that data for ... security reasons. And we can't tell you why because ... FBI, tell them we can't tell them, after all you want that data for free instead of having to buy it, right?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 26 2022, @08:24AM (1 child)
Not a very compelling argument for FBI, they already have the NSL [wikipedia.org] stick handy.
(Score: 1) by aafcac on Tuesday July 26 2022, @03:19PM
And with the composition of SCOTUS over the last few decades, it's unlikely that anything will be done about the blatantly unconstitutional process that the NSLs represent. It's not even a matter of the improperly appointed justices of the last few years, the court has been ignoring the constitution for decades when it would actually help the people.