The FCC might let your carrier notify you sooner about its next big data breach
Data breaches are an inevitable facetof modern life. There isno security so robustthat a hacker can’tpenetrate it. What matters is how we mitigate that risk. Unfortunately, we can’t mitigate the risks that we aren’t aware of. That’s why it’s crucial for businesses that regularly handle sensitive information (like telecom carriers) to inform customers when their data’s been involved ina breachas early as possible. The FCC is now signaling that it wants to make sure carriers are doing all they can to keep customers informed, and is considering some new rules for making that happen.
Although the FCC hasn’t made anything official, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcelissued a press releaseoutlining proposed rules that would change the breach reporting requirements for telecom carriers. These companies are already obliged to report data breaches, but according to Rosenworcel “these rules need updating to fully reflect the evolving nature of data breaches and the real-time threat they pose to affected consumers.”
The proposal outlines a few major changes to the status quo. Waiting periods before carriers are permitted to notify customers are currently seven business days long, and these would be done away with. There would also be new requirements for notifying the FBI or Secret Service, as well as a rule that would inform customers of even inadvertent breaches.
These changes don’t deviate very far fromwhere we are now. Carriers can already forgo the seven-day rule if there is an urgent need to tell their customers. There’s no existing language exempting “inadvertent” breaches from disclosure regulations. And businesses are already obliged to inform the FBI and the Secret Service of a breach within seven business days via the FCC website.
On the surface this seems like a lot of bloviating: lots of words for not much change. But we don’t know the full details of the proposed rule change just yet. The document released Wednesday is aproposalfor aproposedrule change. The next step is for the full FCC commission to vote on the proposal before it is published in theFederal Register. Thelast rule changeit made that affected smartphone users wasannounced in Septemberandofficially proposedin October, so we may have some more details in a few weeks.
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