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 The groups want providers of broadband internet services including
mobile and landline phone, cable and satellite TV firms to be
subject to tough privacy regulations.
Among the firms that would be affected are AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp,
Verizon Communications Inc and Cablevision Systems Corp.
"As the role of the Internet in the daily lives of consumers
increases, this means an increased potential for surveillance," said
the letter to FCC chairman Tom Wheeler seen by Reuters and signed by
the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Digital Democracy,
Consumer Watchdog Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Citizen and
54 other groups.
Critics say broadband providers are already harvesting huge amounts
of consumer data for use in targeted advertising, the groups wrote.
"This can create a chilling effect on speech and increase the
potential for discriminatory practices derived from data use," the
letter said.
Wheeler said this broadband providers must make sure information
they collect about consumers is secure and that they are informed
and have a choice about whether to participate.
In November, Wheeler said he expected the FCC would address privacy
practices "in the next several months" from companies that "provide
network services" and consumers should know what is being collected
about their internet use.
Wheeler said the FCC questions if consumers "know what information
is being collected? Do I have a voice in whether or not that's going
to be used one way or another? Those are two very important baseline
rights that individuals ought to have."
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In November, the FCC rejected a petition from the group Consumer
Watchdog to require internet firms called "edge providers" like
Google, Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, Netflix, and LinkedIn to honor
"Do Not Track" Requests from consumers.
The FCC has repeatedly said it has no intention to regulate those
firms although Alphabet's Google could fall under the privacy
regulations in its pilot project in which it is providing internet
service.
An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment on the timing of any
announcement.
A spokesman for USTelecom, a trade association representing major
broadband providers, declined to comment, noting that the FCC has
not proposed any privacy regulations.
Two Republican FCC commissioners wrote in August in a Wall Street
Journal op-ed that the "FCC should refrain from imposing its
Byzantine privacy regime on broadband and Internet providers."
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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