Maureen Ohlhausen: A New Leader at the FTC

Reasonable Federal Internet policy has a new advocate now that Maureen Ohlhausen is the Acting Chairperson of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  An FTC Commissioner since 2012, Ohlhausen has been remarkably discerning about the internet’s evolution and how federal rules should balance consumer rights with support for new broadband services.

As an early voice among internet attorneys arguing for the application of existing laws to protect online behavior, Chairperson Ohlhausen, offers a positive step for Internet policy.

Long before issues such as net neutrality and Title II were debated, Ohlhausen argued that the fastest and most direct ways to protect net users’ ability to access their choice of online content was through existing antitrust and consumer protection laws. In her view, that route not only offered internet users the online protections they needed, it also offered important legal certainty to internet companies concerned about federal rules that might hamper modernization of the country’s communication networks.

This approach to internet policy provides for thoughtful consideration, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has spent years shifting back and forth on internet rules.  Since 2010, the FCC has had at least 4 different sets of rules regulating internet’s operations.   The FCC’s 2015 decision to regulate the internet under Title II of the Act imposes regulations from the 1934 law designed for public utilities that are ill suited to today’s innovative internet.  Against this backdrop, Ohlhausen’s observations throughout the last decade about using laws, not shifting agency regulations for protecting consumers, are thoughtful and could provide a useful alternative.

Another area of internet policy where her thinking will be important is with consumer privacy.  The FTC has a set of privacy standards that are already being enforced.  However, last year the FCC drafted its own privacy rules that have resulted in some confusion, particularly for consumers.  Re-establishing a role for the FTC to protect consumer’s online usage is important, and Chairwoman Ohlhausen is the right person to help lead this effort.

FTC PrivacyCon: Bringing Consumer Protections Into Focus

I recently attended the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) special conference on privacy issues, PrivacyCon.  It was a full day of panel sessions with academics and privacy experts presenting on a range of topics related to privacy, including the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, mobile data, online behavioral advertising, and information security.

One topic that several of the day’s speakers focused on was that online sites and mobile apps do not offer adequate privacy protections for consumers. For example, one presenter did a survey and found that 71% of the apps did not have privacy policies, and yet they collected personal information about their users. In another study, there was evidence that apps actually exposed passwords and leaked personal information about users to other third parties. Amongst the panelists, there was a general call to improve transparency and control, and to extend privacy protections to IoT devices.

One panel that I found to be most interesting was on the topic of consumer expectations around privacy. Chanda Phelan, University of Michigan, presented a paper entitled, “It is Creepy, But It Doesn’t Bother Me.” The paper discusses what privacy concerns cross the line for consumers, and found that “what” is being tracked is more of a concern for consumers that “who” is doing the tracking. The paper concludes that trackers need to clearly explain the data (type, etc.) that is being collected.

Yet another presented paper caught my attention because the topic of discussion was around what influences consumers’ privacy expectations. Is it industry? Is it government? Or is it the education and efforts of regulators? The paper concluded that it was a combination of all elements. With new FCC leadership, I think we are likely to see more conversations around privacy and I look forward to the debate.

For more detailed information on the topics presented at PrivacyCon, speaker papers are currently all available on the PrivacyCon agenda.

NARUC Panel on the Price of Privacy

This week at NARUC’s annual conference in California, I attended a panel titled, “The Price of Privacy.” Although the panel was described to attendees as an opportunity to discuss privacy in the utility sectors, the conversation mostly centered on the FCC’s recently released broadband privacy order.

FCC Wireline Legal Advisor, Claude Aiken, kicked things off with a review of the FCC’s adopted rules. Panelists then offered their own perspectives on the impact these rules will have on consumers and the marketplace. Kevin Rupy, US Telecom, expressed concern that the FCC’s privacy rules should have been written to align more closely with the FTC’s privacy framework. These inconsistencies, he said, will cause confusion for consumers.  Rupy also expressed concern that the rules will make it more difficult for ISPs to engage in the marketing of their businesses in areas where they are new entrants.

Doug Brake, Telecom Analyst for the Internet Technology and Innovation Foundation, expressed concerns about the negative impact the new privacy rules could have on innovation. Dallas Harris, Public Knowledge, believes an opt-in regime is not a problem for consumers because they will carefully consider their options.

This panel featured a good discussion on the FCC’s privacy rules and I am interested to see where the discussion continues to go. In particular, I look forward to answer the question: What will the impact of the privacy rules be on innovation?

NARUC Panel Tackles Robocalling and Spoofing

This week, at NARUC’s Annual Conference in California, I spoke on a panel addressing an important consumer issue: Robocalling. These unwanted, automatic calls ring on our landline phones, and now increasingly on our wireless phones. The NARUC panel presented the consumer issues with these calls, solutions to combat the calls that have been proposed by industry, and the tools that are available today to help stop the calls.

My remarks focused on the added problem that spoofing creates: the ability to have a number appear in your caller ID that is a local, familiar number when the caller could actually be from out of the country. Spoofing has been used quite effectively in a number of scams, including IRS scam, when robocalls were made to consumers and then number appeared to be from Washington, D.C. The callers stated they were from the IRS and the consumer owed money in back taxes. This is just one of many unfortunate forms of illegal robocalling that preyed on consumers.

AT&T’s Linda Vanderloop spoke about the industry-led Robocall Strike Force that is working with the FCC to find technical network solutions to stop robocalling. The Strike Force issued a report to the FCC a few weeks ago with the progress they have made thus far and they will continue their work over the next six months. Mike Brady from Comcast, described how effective call blocker tools are at stopping robocalling, and described one service called “Nomorobo” that has been found to be helpful to consumers. Brent Struthers of Neustar spoke about some other technical solutions that will be on the horizon, including enhanced caller ID that will provide consumers with much more detailed information to help eliminate confusion.

Finally, I believe there needs to be an emphasis on consumer education and awareness. An informed consumer is the best defense again robocall scams. For more information about tips and tools to help stop robocalls, check out the FCC’s new page: www.fcc.gov/unwanted-calls.

Global Growth of Mobile Internet Usage

I recently read about a new report from Zenith’s Mobile Advertising Forecasts regarding global mobile usage. The surprising country that tops the list for greatest mobile Internet usage is Spain. With 85% of mobile usage in the country coming from smartphones, it exceeds Hong Kong (79%) and China (with (76%). The U.S. is next with 74% and then Italy and India, respectively each with 73%.

The most interesting overall statistic is that mobile Internet usage globally is at 75% this year, compared to 40% in 2012, a significant increase. This increase over the past four years has been due to an increase in smartphone ownership. The report indicates that globally there are now 56% of people who have smartphones compared with 23% in 2012. In some countries, smartphone ownership rates are quite high (92% in Ireland and 91% in Singapore) and are expected to reach significant rates by the year 2018.  For example, by 2018, 94% of people in Ireland are expected to own smartphones and adoption rates are expected to reach 92% in both Singapore and Switzerland.

I think it’s important to consider these exploding adoption rates of smartphones globally, because there will be an increase in mobile data usage and an ongoing need for more spectrum.