Initial Takeaways On The FCC's New Privacy And Data Protection Task Force

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) launched a new "Privacy and Data Protection Task Force" (Task Force), throwing its proverbial hat into the ring to join the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and others as a major player in the future of the federal privacy and data security regulatory landscape. According to the press release announcing its launch, the Task Force is an FCC staff working group that will "coordinate across the agency on the rulemaking, enforcement, and public awareness needs in the privacy and data protection sectors."

The move is not terribly surprising. While the Commission's role in federal privacy efforts has long been relatively siloed to regulating "customer proprietary network information" (CPNI), the agency has been dipping its toe further and further into broader privacy issues for some time now, including by recently inquiring about its authority to require breach reporting