EPIC Again Urges FCC to Repeal Data Retention Regulation

EPIC filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission again urging the agency to repeal a regulation that requires the bulk retention of calling records of American telephone customers. EPIC and a coalition of civil rights organizations, technical experts and legal scholars first signed a petition for repeal of the FCC regulation three years ago. When the FCC docketed the petition for public comment, every comment received by the agency favored the EPIC petition to end the data retention regulation. In comments to the agency last year, EPIC again urged the FCC to drop the requirement. In response to an agency proposal to extend the rule, EPIC explained that "the regulation is unduly burdensome, ineffectual, and threatens privacy and security." EPIC also pointed to recent cases in Europe prohibiting the mass retention of phone records. "The United States has fallen behind other advanced democracies around the world" explained EPIC to the FCC.