NetCompetition Statement on Senate CRA of FCC Broadband Privacy Order

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, March 23, 2017, Contact:  Scott Cleland 703-217-2407

Senate CRA Vote Rescinding FCC’s Broadband Privacy Order Paves Way for House Passage and Has Congress Prioritizing Consumer Privacy Protection Over Net Neutrality

WASHINGTON D.C. – The following may be attributed to Scott Cleland, Chairman of NetCompetition:

 “The CRA was made for correcting big agency mistakes just like the FCC’s Broadband Privacy Order, which made consumer privacy protection worse not better, because it prioritized technology over people, net neutrality over consumer privacy protection, the FCC over the FTC, and the interests of edge platforms over the interests of American consumers.”

“The most embarrassing part of the FCC’s broadband privacy order is that it does not really protect consumers’ privacy at all. That’s because effectively it only requires ISPs to keep certain information private when every other entity on the Internet does not have to keep private that exact same information.”

“The Senate’s 50-48 vote today to rescind the FCC’s dysfunctional broadband privacy order under the Congressional Review Act paves the way for the House to vote soon on a companion bill that has already been introduced. When that bill is passed by the House, it will create legislation that President Trump can soon sign into law.”

NETCompetition.org is a pro-competition e-forum representing broadband interests. 

Scott Cleland served as Deputy U.S. Coordinator for  International Communications and Information Policy in the George H. W. Bush Administration.