Friday, January 29, 2010 - The Progress & Freedom Foundation Blog

FCC's Privacy Inquiry for National Broadband Plan

Like Braden, I also filed comments on the FCC's inquiry--written by CDT--about what, if anything, the FCC should say about online privacy in the National Broadband Plan Congress assigned the agency to write in the (so-called) "Recovery Act" last year. My comments are available here and are embedded below. Over 20 parties filed comments, available here. My argument in brief is as follows:

The FTC's comments, signed by Bureau of Consumer Protection David Vladeck summarize the FTC's Exploring Privacy Roundtables, noting a wide diversity of views on consumer privacy expectations. Given Vladeck's well-known support for increased privacy regulation, which Adam and I recently discussed in detail, the letter is relatively balanced--noting both that:



The latter point was made eloquently by Adam Thierer at the December 7 Roundtable, echoing my earlier paper on privacy surveys. Given the intensity of this debate and the need for much more data, there's just no basis for the FCC to include anything in the National Broadband Plan about the need for more private sector regulations or what they should look like.


I'll have more to say about this when I've had a chance to read all the other comments in this important proceeding. For now, I recommend Braden's and those filed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau about the benefits of self-regulation over preemptive government intervention.


Comments to the Federal Communications Commission in the Matter of Privacy Issues Raised by the Center for ...









posted by Berin Szoka @ 1:49 AM | Advertising & Marketing , Privacy