InfoBytes Blog
FCC launches Privacy and Data Protection Task Force
On June 14, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the establishment of the Commission’s new Privacy and Data Protection Task Force. According to the announcement, the task force will coordinate efforts across the FCC on rulemaking, enforcement, and public awareness needs in the privacy and data protection sectors. These coordinated measures, Rosenworcel said, are intended to protect against and respond to data breaches involving telecommunications providers and those related to cyber intrusions. Measures will also address supply chain vulnerabilities involving third-party vendors that service regulated communications providers. Speaking to the Center for Democracy and Technology Forum on Data Privacy, Rosenworcel commented that data monetization is big business and that “market incentives to keep our data and slice and dice it to inform commercial activity are enormous” and only increasing. She provided examples of data aggregators selling individual geolocation data and said this demonstrates how information can be monetized. Rosenworcel further explained that the task force will also provide input on Commission efforts to modernize the FCC’s data breach rules. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in January to launch a formal proceeding for strengthening the Commission’s rules for notifying customers and federal law enforcement of breaches of customer proprietary network information.