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FCC Proposes Rules That Impact Online Privacy

By Shari Claire Lewis

'Broadband Internet access service” (BIAS) is the essential conduit for the conduct of our daily personal and private lives, without which all Internet activity comes to a stop. Indeed, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently referred to BIAS as “the most significant communications technology of today.” See, Federal Communications Commission, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Released April 1, 2016'(FCC 16-39), at 2. Nevertheless, because BIAS is the road on which Internet traffic travels, and not the destination, it is largely invisible. Rarely do we consider that Internet service providers (ISPs) that provide BIAS to consumers have extraordinarily broad access “to very sensitive and very personal information that could threaten a person's financial security, reveal embarrassing or even harmful details of medical history or disclose to prying eyes the intimate details of interest, physical presence and fears.” Id. at 3.

As ISPs follow their customer's Internet voyages, they can (and often do) develop highly individualized profiles of where each user travels and what services are acquired upon arrival at their Internet destinations. Indeed, the ability of ISPs to capture individualized data is far greater than the access enjoyed by “edge providers” such as Internet search engines, e-commerce sites, and streaming video services, but with far less regulation or disclosure of their monitoring activities.

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