FCC Chair Rosenworcel Circulates New Data Breach Reporting Requirements

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared with her colleagues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would begin the process of strengthening the FCC’s rules for notifying customers and federal law enforcement of breaches of customer proprietary network information (CPNI). The updates would better align the FCC’s rules with recent developments in federal and state data breach laws covering other sectors. The proposal outlines several updates to current FCC rules addressing telecommunications carriers’ breach notification requirements. These include:

• Eliminating the current seven business day mandatory waiting period for notifying customers of a breach;
• Expanding customer protections by requiring notification of inadvertent breaches; and
• Requiring carriers to notify the FCC of all reportable breaches in addition to the FBI and US Secret Service.