Media Contact:  
Shiva Goel, (202) 418-2500 
shiva.goel@fcc.gov 
 
For Immediate Release 
                                      
                COMMISSIONER STARKS COMMENTS ON  
                  PRIVACY, EQUITY, AND CIVIL RIGHTS 
 
WASHINGTON, March 6, 2023—FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks today filed 
comments in response to an inquiry by the National Telecommuniations and Information 
Administration (“NTIA”) on how commercial data practices may lead to outsized harms 
for marginalized or disadvantaged communities.  A copy of the Commissioner’s 
comments is attached. 
 
The comments share three examples – each within a core area of FCC authority and 
expertise – where the use of commercial data practices has the potential to negatively 
affect minority and underserved communities:    
 
   •  Digital discrimination in broadband internet access.  Commenters in the FCC’s 
      ongoing proceeding to prevent and eliminate digital discrimination of access have 
      raised concerns that bias in the use of data related to deployment, upgrades, 
      maintenance, marketing, and customer service may lead to minority communities 
      being underserved or recieving less secure service.  
       
   •  Automated speech recognition and facial recognition.  Providers of IP-captioned 
      telephone service are increasingly using automated speech recognition (“ASR”) to 
      caption calls.  Studies have shown that ASR systems make far more errors when 
      transcribing the speech of people of color, mirroring the troubling bias algorithms 
      that power facial recognition also exhibit. 
       
   •  Advertisements to protective groups.  Broadcast television is transitioning to a 
      new transmission standard.  Using the new standard, broadcasters will be able to 
      collect substantial viewer data for the first time, which can be used for targeted 
      advertising.  Because the technology is developing, the FCC has the opportunity 
      to ensure that broadcasters are responsible stewards of data from the outset. 
 
These practices, and others like them, may implicate services outside the communications 
sector, and also have the effect of widening gaps in access to technology and other 
socioeconomic disparities.  “My hope is that NTIA finds these examples illustrative as it 
examines the impact of these practices more broadly,” Commissioner Starks stated.   
 

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                      Office of Commissioner Geoffrey Starks: (202) 418-2500  
                                  ASL Videophone: (844) 432-2275 
                                     Twitter: @GeoffreyStarks  
                           www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/geoffrey-starks 
                                                   
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.  
                               See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).