CDT Comments to FCC on Privacy Issues to Consider in Broadband Plan

National broadband access will support innumerable innovative online applications and provide great societal benefit if privacy is addressed in meaningful ways from the beginning. Promoting privacy online will encourage more citizens to take advantage of the benefits that broadband Internet can deliver and therefore help to achieve “maximum utilization of broadband” and other goals cited in the Recovery Act.

 

In its report to Congress, the Commission can contribute to the development of privacy policy in the US by highlighting the role of consumer trust in promoting adoption of broadband-based applications. The National Broadband Plan should include a comprehensive set of recommendations for appropriate government bodies and companies detailing how these entities can protect consumer privacy online. CDT believes that fully protecting consumer privacy interests online requires a rigorous mix of self-regulation, enforcement of existing law, development of technical tools and standards, and enactment of new legislation. In these comments, we discuss six of the most important recommendations that we believe the Commission can make in its broadband report.