An op-ed in The Wall Street Journal asserts the Federal Communications Commission’s privacy management practices for broadband providers is problematic. That’s because the new rules for Internet service providers require customers to opt-in to having their data used for targeted advertising. But it’s historically been only a minority who opt-out of such data uses. In addition, the approach contrasts greatly with the Federal Trade Commission’s, the agency that previously held enforcement responsibility. “Instead of applying the FTC’s privacy approach — which focuses on punishing deceptive or unfair practices — the FCC would default to barring nearly all uses of viewer preferences,” the report states. “Now the commission is proposing privacy rules that dump decades of successful policy and don’t apply to the tech companies that profit off Web habits.” Editor’s note: DLA Piper’s Jim Halpert tackled the FCC’s new rules in a recent blog post for Privacy Perspectives. (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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