CPNI
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FCC demands carriers protect customer privacy in declaratory ruling
Privacy has been a hot-button topic of late, no more so than in the area of telecommunications. Perhaps as a response to these concerns, the FCC voted today for a Declaratory Ruling that all carriers must safeguard the private data in their customers' mobile devices. This data is known as customer proprietary network information (CPNI) and consists of metadata like phone numbers, call duration, call locations and call logs. Providers are supposed to protect such data already, but until today that only applied to the network -- now phones are covered under it as well. Carriers are still allowed to collect the information for network support purposes, but all precautions must be met so it's not compromised. It appears that third-party apps and services aren't covered under the ruling, and there aren't any strict regulations on how the CPNI may be gathered or protected. Still, the FCC made it clear that if any of the data is exposed, the carriers would have some serious 'splainin to do. To learn more about the ruling, check out the press release after the break.
Verizon plans to disseminate your data, unless you 'opt out'
Here's one that is sure to get the pro-privacy crowd all riled up, and rightfully so. Apparently, Verizon is sending out notices to customers that update them on all the fine print, but if you actually take a moment to peruse the documentation, you may notice something you're not exactly kosher with. The carrier is now planning on sharing its database of CPNI records -- which is defined as "data collected by telecommunications corporations about a consumer's telephone calls, including time, data, duration and destination" -- to outside sources unless you take the initiative to opt out. The notice claims that users will have to remove themselves from the process within 30 days of receiving the letter, or else it "will assume that you give the Verizon Companies the right to share your CPNI with the authorized companies as described above." We just can't see this going over well. [Warning: PDF read link][Via mocoNews]
