FTC VS AT&T MOBILITY: CEMENTING THE FCC AS A PRIVACY REGULATOR?

摘要

A court decision in 2016 further complicates the US privacy framework, with significant implications for the FTC's and FCC's respective roles in regulating the privacy practices of telecoms service providers. On 29 August, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the common carrier exemption to the FTC's general authority applies to any entity that has common carrier status, rejecting the FTC's claims that the exemption is narrow and applies only to common carrier activities. The case, which arose from the FTC's challenge to certain contracting and advertising practices connected to AT&T's'unlimited'mobile data plans, leaves the scope of the FTC's authority uncertain.