FTC Releases Privacy and Data Security Report

The FTC released its 2018 Privacy and Data Security Update Report.  It shows that the FTC brought enforcement actions addressing a wide range of privacy issues, including: spam, social networking, behavioral advertising, pretexting, spyware, peer-to-peer file sharing, and mobile.  These matters include over 130 spam and spyware cases and 75 general privacy lawsuits. Among other things :

• The FTC entered into a settlement with PayPal, Inc. over, among other things, allegedly deceptive privacy settings in its peer-to-peer payment service, Venmo. The complaint alleged that Venmo misrepresented what steps were necessary to keep financial transactions private. The complaint also alleged that Venmo did not satisfy the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Privacy Rule and Safeguards Rule requirements. The settlement prohibits Venmo from misrepresenting the extent of control provided by any of its privacy settings and requires it to make affirmative disclosures about its privacy practices.
• The FTC alleged that mobile phone manufacturer BLU Products, Inc. and its co-owner allowed a China-based third-party service provider to collect detailed personal information about consumers, such as text message contents, which the service provider did not need, and which were contrary to promises BLU made to consumers. As part of the settlement, defendants must implement a comprehensive data security program to help prevent unauthorized access to consumers’ personal information and address security risks related to BLU phones. In addition, BLU will be subject to third-party assessments of its security program every two years for 20 years.

• The FTC entered into an expanded settlement with Uber Technologies, Inc. arising from a 2016 data breach.  Among other things, the revised settlement subjects Uber to civil penalties if it fails to notify the FTC of certain future incidents involving unauthorized access of consumer information.

• The FTC announced a nonpublic investigation into the privacy practices of Facebook, following press reports that the company may have shared consumer information with Cambridge Analytica, in violation of Facebook’s consent decree with the FTC.

 _______________________________________________________________________________________________

 The Regulatory Mix Today:  FTC Releases Privacy and Data Security Report, FCC Intermediate Carrier Service Quality Standards, FCC Wireless Location Accuracy

FCC Intermediate Carrier Service Quality Standards

At its meeting last week, the FCC voted to adopt service quality standards for the transmission of covered voice communications by intermediate providers.  Under the Order, intermediate providers will be required to:

• Take steps reasonably calculated to ensure that all calls they handle are delivered to their destination
• When routing calls to rural areas, monitor the performance of any other intermediate providers with which they directly contract, and based on the results of that monitoring, take steps to address any performance problems with those providers
• Ensure that any intermediate providers to which they hand off calls are registered.

Intermediate providers that fail to abide by these standards are subject to fines from the FCC.  The FCC can also remove non-compliant providers from its registry, which would make those providers ineligible for use by covered providers and other intermediate providers in completing calls.

FCC Wireless Location Accuracy

Additionally, at last week's meeting, the FCC voted to seek comment on proposed rules intended to help first responders locate 911 callers in multi-story buildings.  The rules would require wireless providers to meet a proposed vertical (or “z-axis”) location accuracy metric of plus or minus three meters relative to the handset for 80% of indoor wireless 911 calls.  The FCC tentatively concluded that such a location accuracy metric—within three meters above or below the phone—would be sufficiently accurate to identify the caller’s floor level in most cases and would be technically feasible under the timeframes established in the FCC’s Enhanced 911 rules.

____________________________

The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.