Future Shock? Uncertainty Over Long-Term Effects of the FCC Privacy Rules Repeal

While the recent repeal of the Federal Communications Commissions' (FCC) broadband privacy rules have caused an uproar over what many may see as lagging federal data privacy protections, it does little to change how broadband Internet service providers (ISPs) handle their users' data.

The privacy rules, put forth in the waning days of the Obama Administration, placed several privacy and security obligations on broadband ISPs, among them the need to “obtain affirmative consent when offering financial incentives in exchange for the right to use a customer's confidential information,” and the requirement to more clearly provide privacy notices to their customers, according to the FCC.

Because the rules were scheduled to take effect in late 2017, the repeal “doesn't change anything immediately,” Behnam Dayanim, partner from Paul Hastings' Privacy practice, told Legaltech News. But in the long term, their effect is far more significant. Since the rules “did provide some certainty” on how broadband ISPs can collect and sell their customer data, their repeal essentially leaves open the question of how to interpret the laws regulating such activity.