In comments on an FCC proposed rule, EPIC said that the agency should not track the Internet use of Lifeline subscribers. Lifeline is a federal program that provides broadband service to economically disadvantaged Americans. The FCC is proposing that Lifeline subscribers install apps to track their data usage and that companies retain detailed records about Internet use by Lifeline subscribers. EPIC said: "Americans should not be required to sacrifice their privacy to access the Internet." EPIC led a campaign and petition opposing the FCC's requirement that telephone carriers retain detailed records of American telephone customers.
On January 28, EPIC celebrates International Privacy Day, which commemorates Council of Europe Convention 108, the first international privacy convention. Today EPIC urged Congress to take three steps to safeguard the personal data of Americans: (1) enact comprehensive baseline legislation, (2) establish a data protection agency, and (3) ratify the International Privacy Convention. EPIC and consumer organizations have long urged the United States to endorse the Privacy Convention, which establishes a global framework for the free flow of personal data. The complete text of the Privacy Convention is in the EPIC Privacy Law Sourcebook, available at the EPIC Bookstore. Follow #DataProtectionDay.
A new Pew Research survey found that 74% of U.S. adults say it is more important to keep things about themselves from being searchable online than it is to discover potentially useful information about others. And 85% say that all Americans should have the right to have potentially embarrassing photos and videos removed from online search results. EPIC advocates for the "right to be forgotten" and maintains a webpage on U.S. state laws that allow individuals to remove records containing disparaging information. EPIC publication "The Right to be Forgotten on the Internet: Google v. Spain," an account of the original case written by former Spanish Privacy Commissioner Artemi Rallo, is available in the EPIC bookstore.
