The rules required providers to take ‘reasonable’ measures to secure consumer data
The U. S. Federal Communications Commission has halted new rules that would require high-speed internet providers to take ‘reasonable’ steps to protect customer data.
In a 2-1 vote that went along party lines, the FCC voted Wednesday to stay temporarily one part of privacy rules passed in October that would give consumers the right to decide how their data is used and shared by broadband providers.
The rules include the requirement that internet service providers should obtain “opt-in” consent from consumers to use and share sensitive information such as geolocation and web browsing history, and also give customers the option to opt out from the sharing of non-sensitive information such as email addresses or service tier information.
The data security provisions whose operation have now been halted in view of a stay petition by providers include the requirement that broadband internet access providers engage in reasonable data security practices and provide data breach notification requirements. The rules were to come into effect on Thursday.
Internet service providers, however, claim that the regulations place more burdens and costs on them than on other internet entities such as search engines and social networks.
“The federal government shouldn’t favor one set of companies over another—and certainly not when it comes to a marketplace as dynamic as the internet,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a joint statement on Wednesday with Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairman Maureen K.
