By: Laura Stavetski
There is no doubt that technology has made our lives more efficient, but at what cost? The introduction of technology into society has brought along with it a variety of consumer privacy concerns. Consumer privacy issues have recently been brought to our attention due to the ongoing fight between Apple and the FBI over the government’s attempt to break into the iPhone belonging to one of the terrorists involved in the San Bernardino, California shootings. What is consumer privacy worth? For Verizon Wireless, it’s going to cost about $1.35 million according to the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”).
Verizon has recently run into some trouble with the FCC involving Verizon’s use of “supercookies” to track their user’s online activity. The purpose of the “supercookies” was to track customer’s web browsing in order to provide targeted advertising. What is most alarming about Verizon’s “supercookies” is that these types of cookies are intended to be permanently stored on devices. This means that these cookies are extremely difficult to delete from your device, especially since most Verizon customers were unaware of their existence. As a result of the investigation conducted by the FCC, Verizon must now pay a fine of $1.35 million and shift from its previous opt-out policy to a more straightforward opt-in policy for customers. With the introduction of this new policy, Verizon will now be permitted to share “supercookie” data with third parties only if the customer has chosen to opt-in.
The FCC first began its investigation in December of 2014, attempting to discern whether Verizon had failed to take appropriate precautions to protect personal customer information and whether Verizon had failed to disclose information regarding the use of “supercookies.” Failure to comply with either of these would result in a direct violation of the FCC’s 2010 Open Internet Transparency Rule and Section 222 of the Communications Act. The FCC’s Rule requires that providers of broadband services give all consumers the appropriate information they need to make an informed decision. The Rule also requires that this information be both accurate and truthful. Section 222 of the Communications Act states that every telecommunications carrier has a duty to protect the confidentiality of proprietary information of other telecommunication carriers, equipment manufacturers, and customers. Verizon was found to be in violation of both the Open Internet Transparency Rule and Section 222 of the Communications Act as a result of their use of “supercookies” to track their customer’s online activity without their consent.
“Consumers care about privacy and should have a say in how their personal information is used, especially when it comes to who knows what they’re doing online,” said FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc in a press release (http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2016/db0307/DOC-338091A1.pdf) dated Monday, March 7th. The FCC intends to further increase their role in safeguarding consumer privacy by ensuring that wireless and broadband service providers take special precautions to protect their customer’s personal information. In the digital age of hackers and technology breaches it is likely that the FCC will further tighten restrictions on these types of service providers. Hopefully, other telecommunications and broadband service providers will take warning from Verizon’s case and take the appropriate steps to protect their customers.
Bio: Laura is a current Staff Member of the Journal of High Technology Law. She is a 2L at Suffolk University Law School with a concentration in Business Law and Financial Services. Laura holds a B.A. in Economics from Roanoke College.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
