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1JrWlMLjJuly 22, 2015
The Honorable Tom Wheeler
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chairman Wheeler:
The availability of Internet access and proliferation of connected devices has led to opportunity
and economic growth unparalleled in American history. Yet, this explosion of technology comes
with new concerns about the privacy of Americans, and while technology may change,
consumers' rights do not The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should work to
animate new forms of technology, including broadband Internet access service, with time-tested
American values, including the right to privacy.
The FCC has nearly thirty years of experience protecting the privacy of telecommunications
customers who have no choice but to share highly personal information about themselves in
order to obtain essential communications services. Against the backdrop of the privacy
framework that the FCC developed in the 1980s, Congress passed the bipartisan
Telecommunications Act of 1996 and granted the FCC expansive authority to adopt enforceable
rules that require common carriers to protect the proprietary information of customers.
Current rules ensure that consumers' personal information cannot be sold to the highest bidder
without consumer consent. These rules honor Americans' expectation of privacy in personal
communications and foster trust in essential networks that promote unhindered speech and
association. The rules also help prevent companies with few competitors from abusing the
personal information of consumers to gain an anti competitive advantage in other markets. We
support these strong rules.
We also support extending these rules to broadband. In 2015, broadband access is no longer a
luxury; it is now as essential as phone service. Like the phone companies of the twentieth
century, Internet service providers (ISPs) are gatekeepers that control the infrastructure that
Americans depend on to access vital applications and services. ISPs provide a critical service
that allows consumers to access information and communicate across town and around the globe.
An ISP has a duty to protect the privacy of consumers who use the company's wired and
wireless infrastructure to connect to the world.
We are pleased with recent steps that the FCC has taken to increase consumers' privacy
protections, In February 2015, the FCC reclassified broadband as a telecommunications service
under Title II of the Communications Act and adopted rules to protect the open Internet. As part
of this reclassification, the Commission wisely chose 10 apply Section 222 of Title II to
broadband, extending the duty to protect the privacy of information that ISPs collect about their
customers because of the carrier-customer relationship.
We strongly support the Commission's decision to strengthen privacy protections for consumers'
personal information, and we applaud your recent announcement about initiating a rulemaking to
protect the privacy of consumers who use broadband. As the FCC moves forward and works to
apply privacy protections to broadband, we urge you to carefully undertake a rulemaking that
considers the following:
1. The definition of Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI). We call
on the Commission to adopt a comprehensive definition of CPNI as it pertains to
broadband. Every click consumers make online paints a detailed picture of their
personal and professional lives. Accordingly, ISPs should be prohibited from sharing
this information without user consent. Data pertaining to Internet usage, online
activity and broadband service payments should be included in the FCC's definition
ofCPNI.
2. Transparency around data collection. Consumers ought to be able to know at any
time what kind of information an ISP is collecting about them and how this
information is being used. ISPs should accurately outline data collection policies in
standardized model forms - adopted by the Commission with prior input by
stakeholders - that are easy for consumers to access, read and understand.
3. Consumer consent before ISPs use and share the proprietary information of
consumers. Generally, consumer information ought not be shared beyond the extent
necessary for the ISP to deliver the requested service to the consumer.
• ISPs should gain affirmative express consent from consumers before using or
sharing information beyond what a consumer would reasonably expect an ISP
to use and share in order to deliver service and manage its networks. This
includes sharing information with affiliates, as well as for advertising or
marketing purposes.
• The use of a service should not be conditioned upon consumer consent for the
collection, use or sharing of information beyond that which is necessary to
deliver service. For example, a consumer should not be required to click
through a form that requires the consumer to forfeit privacy protections as a
condition to gaining access to a service.
• Privacy protections ought to be considered a fundamental, built-in component
of broadband service. Consumers should not have to pay an ISP an additional
amount in order to protect their privacy.
4. Data security and timely notification of breaches. Consumers' information must
be protected from external and internal unauthorized access with strong data security
measures. If a network or database is breached in a manner that could compromise
the consumer's privacy or cause the consumer harm, ISPs must notify consumers
about the breach and any actions that consumers could take to mitigate potential harm
from the breach.
5. Clear complaint processes. Both ISPs and the FCC should have clear, user-friendly,
easily accessible and responsive complaint processes for consumers who have
evidence or reason to believe their privacy has been violated.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Al Franken
United States Senator
Ron Wyden
United States Senato
United States Senator
Sincerely,
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Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator
~ Patrick Leahy ~~
United States Senator
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Bernard Sanders
United States Senator
Cory A. Booker
United States Senator