Federal Communications Commission FCC 14-173 STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MIGNON CLYBURN Re: TerraCom, Inc. and YourTel America, Inc., Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, File No. EB-TCD-13- 00009175 The single most critical piece of one’s personal information is the nine-digit number assigned to you at birth. That social security number is your first and continuous link to wages, earnings and benefits, and stays with you for eternity. Headlines reporting significant data breaches are all too common. Once a breach occurs, there is often a long road for consumers to regain control of their personal information. Thus, it is imperative that companies in possession of our proprietary data take all appropriate measures to make sure it is not compromised. The Commission has a clear role to ensure that providers protect sensitive information. In fact, Section 222 of the Communications Act imposes a “duty” on carriers to “protect the confidentiality of proprietary information.” I find this case to be particularly egregious. These companies failed to protect the proprietary information entrusted to them. I fully support this action and sincerely hope it sends a clear signal that providers must ensure that consumers’ sensitive information is protected.