House Approves Bill to Overturn FCC Privacy Rule
March 28 2017 - 5:31PM
Dow Jones News
By John D. McKinnon
House lawmakers on Tuesday voted to overturn an Obama-era
privacy rule for broadband providers, buoying telecommunications
firms but potentially muddying consumer-protection standards.
The vote, largely along party lines, was 215 to 205.
The rule, adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in
the waning months of the Obama administration, required
telecommunications firms such as Comcast Corp. and Verizon
Communications Inc. to get customers' permission to market their
app and web-browsing history to third parties. It was opposed by
broadband providers, who said it could unfairly tilt the playing
field in favor of internet rivals, such as Alphabet Inc.'s Google
unit and Facebook Inc., which generally are regulated by another
agency, the Federal Trade Commission, and face less stringent
standards when it comes to consumers' data.
Congressional Democrats as well as consumer advocates complained
on Tuesday that the rollback removes important legal protections
for broadband-access customers. The bill "totally wipes out
consumer protections" on the internet, said Rep. Anna Eshoo (D.,
Calif.).
But Republicans said substantial protections -- including
federal law and policies adopted by the companies themselves --
remain in place, and consumers are adequately shielded.
"The FCC already has the authority to enforce the privacy
obligations of broadband-service providers on a case-by-case
basis," even without the rules, said Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R.,
Tenn.) during floor debate.
Meanwhile, telecommunications firms say the change would restore
fairness for them in comparison to internet companies.
Given the huge size of some internet firms, "unbalancing this
playing field is an inherently bad idea," said Rep. Michael Burgess
(R., Texas).
Republicans, including FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, also have said the
privacy rules could discourage new investment in broadband
infrastructure.
The White House issued a statement on Tuesday saying the
administration "strongly supports" the rollback measure, and
criticized the FCC rule for departing from the "technology-neutral
framework for online privacy" established by the FTC.
The resolution was approved by the Senate last week, by
50-48.
It is unclear exactly what the rollback will mean, however,
given the already-murky state of the law with regard to online
privacy.
For years, the FTC oversaw consumer privacy on the internet for
all types of firms. Then the FCC reclassified internet-service
providers as common carriers, as part of its separate
net-neutrality rules, which require the telecommunications firms to
treat all internet traffic equally.
That reclassification meant that the FTC lost jurisdiction over
the internet-service providers to the FCC. So the FCC set about
adopting the privacy rules that Congress has now voted to
overturn.
FCC officials say they will continue for the foreseeable future
to oversee the internet-service providers, including their privacy
practices.
"We want to recognize and vindicate consumers' uniform
expectation of privacy," Mr. Pai said last week. FCC officials are
working with the FTC to make the two agencies' standards basically
the same.
But consumer advocates say the privacy regulation that Congress
rolled back was the only interpretation of exactly what obligations
the telecommunications companies have under federal statute.
Without the rules, there is not much to guide the companies.
Other questions remain as well. For example, under federal law,
the congressional rollback means the FCC cannot adopt
"substantially similar" regulations in the future -- a concept that
is little-tested and subject to debate. That could weaken the FCC's
hand in adopting a replacement rule.
Whatever the legal consequences of Tuesday's rollback, the move
has a likely political benefit for the FCC's Mr. Pai. He faces the
task of winning Senate confirmation for a second term this year,
and so far appears to be seeking to minimize controversies until
that happens. The congressional vote means that he likely won't
have to do as much to rewrite the privacy rules.
Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 28, 2017 18:16 ET (22:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024