FTC and FCC Chairmen Issue Joint Statement on FCC’s Stay of Broadband Privacy

Today, acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a joint statement on the FCC’s issuance of a temporary stay of a data security regulation for broadband providers scheduled to take effect on March 2.  In their statement, they advocate for a “comprehensive and consistent framework”, so that Americans do not have to “figure out if their information is protected differently depending on which part of the Internet holds it.”

The Chairmen stated that for this reason, they disagreed with the FCC’s 2015 unilateral decision to strip the FTC of its authority over broadband provider’s privacy and data security practices, and believed that jurisdiction over broadband providers’ privacy and data security practices should be returned to the FTC, thus subjecting “all actors in the online space” to the same rules.

Until then, the joint statement provides, the two chairmen “will work together on harmonizing the FCC’s privacy rules for broadband provider with the FTC’s standards for other companies in the digital economy.”  The statement provides that the FCC order was inconsistent with the FTC’s privacy framework. The stay will remain in place only until the FCC is able to rule on a petition for reconsideration of its privacy rules.

In response to concerns that the temporary delay of a rule not yet in effect will leave consumers unprotected, the Chairmen agree that it is vital to fill the consumer protection gap, but that “how that gap is filled matters” – it does not serve consumer’s interests to create two separate and distinct frameworks – one for Internet service providers and another for all other online companies.

Going forward, the statement says, the FTC and the FCC will work together to establish a uniform and technology-neutral privacy framework for the online world.