Broadcasting&Cable

Reps Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) are offering up the latest legislative effort to regulate online privacy, including by requiring websites and online services to get opt-in permission for collecting and/or sharing web browsing data and requiring privacy policies to be delivered in 'plain English.'  They have introduced The Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act, which would also require disclosure if, and with whom, they share behavioral data, and why, as well as require third-party audits of privacy protections submitted to the Federal Trade Commission a

The White House's signal that it is working on a blueprint for a national privacy protection framework in the age of broadband and the Internet of Things has prompted some bipartisanship on Capitol Hill. A pair of Senate Commerce subcommittee leaders have written Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross to say that Congress should be included in any such effort. “To protect Americans from data misuse and establish certainty for businesses to create jobs, innovate, and compete domestically and abroad, a national privacy framework is essential,” the senators told Sec Ross.

The America Cable Association has told the Federal Communications Commission that its Sec. 706 review of whether advanced telecommunications is being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner should exclude hurricanes and other natural disasters. That came in comments for the FCC's next Sec.

The Federal Communications Commission is failing to, in a reasonable and timely manner, account for the extent to which unserved areas are getting broadband. That was a key takeaway from NCTA-The Internet & Television Association's comments to the FCC on whether advanced telecommunications is being provided in a reasonable and timely manner, as Congress has directed it to ensure. If the FCC concludes that advanced telecom is not being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion, it allows the FCC to regulate to make that happen.