From: Financial Times
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
The biggest US cable and telecommunications companies, including Comcast and Verizon, are pushing for a relaxation of privacy rules in Washington that could allow the companies to sell information about their customers’ telephone use and other services.
It would allow these traditional companies to be treated equally to Google and Facebook, and not like public utilities.
Proponents of the shift, which would strip authority from the Federal Communications Commission and expand the mandate of the Federal Trade Commission, say the move would simplify an antiquated regulatory structure that has not kept pace with the changing media landscape. Traditional media companies face tougher restrictions than their new media rivals even though the services they offer are becoming increasingly similar.
But critics contend the change is a ploy by the companies to end privacy oversight by a watchdog – the FCC – that has the authority to limit the kinds of consumer information the groups can sell, and essentially move to a self-regulatory regime. The FTC, which has brought privacy cases against Google and Facebook, is seen by many experts as an agency that has tried to be an effective privacy enforcer but has limited power.
“This is a power grab,” said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a consumer advocate. “The companies know the FTC is basically toothless. They have Facebook and Google envy.”
The move comes amid heightened concern about government privacy policies following a flurry of leaks by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency.
The companies seeking the overhaul have a trove of consumer data at their fingertips because they control the “wire” that connects millions of homes to the internet and telephone services. That includes what people watch on television and the phone calls they make. Mr Chester says the companies are looking to profit from the information, just as their new-media rivals can.
The regulatory change would require passage of a law in Congress. The effort in favour of the move is being spearheaded by the former Democratic chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, and a former Republican congresswoman, Mary Bono, who co-chair a new industry lobby group called 21st Century Privacy Coalition.
The White House last year endorsed a change in oversight rules from the FCC to FTC, but only as part of a broader privacy overhaul. Barack Obama’s close ties to the cable industry were on display last week. On holiday in Martha’s Vineyard, he played golf with Brian Roberts, the Comcast chief executive, and later visited his home.
The FTC is considered the chief privacy regulator in the US, but it does not have authority over certain services. It has long supported a change.
“It seems gerrymandered to have a carve-out on mobile. Our laws should apply to everyone,” says Maneesha Mithal, a top privacy official at the FTC.
Mr Leibowitz argues that a regulatory shift could be a “win win” for all parties.
“I think that there’s a way in which this becomes less burdensome for companies and gives more protection for consumers. Maybe real good can come out of it,” he said.
“It might result in greater across-the-board protections for consumer privacy well beyond this group because you get a bunch of businesses who are willing to make some pro-consumer commitments.”
But Edmund Mierzwinski, the consumer programme director at US Pirg, a privacy advocate, says no consumer could possibly believe the line: “I’m from the phone company and I am here to help you.”
“The phone companies want to take state consumer cops off the privacy beat,” he says.
Additional reporting by Gabriel Muller in Washington and Paul Taylor and Emily Steel in New York
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