Privacy Shouldn't Be a Luxury, Wheeler Says
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., he shares her concerns about the importance of ISP privacy rules, in a response to an earlier letter from Warren. “As you highlight in your letter, in the course of providing…
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service, [broadband] providers can collect vast amounts of customer data,” he wrote. “Even when data is encrypted, a broadband provider can still see the websites that a customer visits, how often the sites are visited, and the amount of time spent on each website.” Wheeler said the record shows broad disagreement on whether ISPs should be allowed to offer discounted service rates to consumers who consent to use and sharing of their information. But he said he agrees with Warren: “privacy should not be a luxury good reserved only for the wealthy.” Wheeler is expected to seek a vote on privacy rules as early as the commission’s October meeting (see 1608260055).