EPIC Leads Civil Society Support for Post-Salt Typhoon FCC Cybersecurity Order

On July 30, EPIC along with staff from Public Knowledge and R Street Institute met with the Federal Communications Commission to express their support for the agency’s January Declaratory Ruling holding that the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) obligates companies to protect sensitive phone information from threat actors. CALEA requires telecom carriers to assist law enforcement with setting up wiretaps or accessing call record information when they have court orders or other lawful authorizations, but prohibits the interception of communications data without lawful authorization. The data protected by CALEA includes access to call-identifying information (for example, what phone number the subscriber has dialed or received calls from) as well as the interception of the content of communications.

On its own, EPIC filed a memo-length ex parte letter on the FCC’s Ruling, emphasizing the unprecedented nature of the Salt Typhoon hack, the unique role the FCC must play as a federal telecom regulator, and the directives of Congress as expressed through CALEA. Earlier this year, industry representatives filed a petition asking the FCC to reconsider this order which EPIC opposed.

EPIC has consistently advocated for stronger safeguards in America’s communications networks to ensure the data privacy and data security of those who rely on it.