Public Knowledge Demands FTC, FCC Get Off Privacy Sidelines and Enforce Existing Law

Jan 15, reports surfaced that Voipo, a California voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) provider, exposed millions of consumer call logs and text messages stored on an “improperly secured” ElasticSearch database for several months before security researcher Justin Paine located them. Public Knowledge demands that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai enforce existing Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) rules that protect the privacy of information related to telephone calls.

Harold Feld wrote, “Chairman Pai should cooperate with [House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ)] and explain to the new House Commerce Committee what is it that the FCC is doing to protect the privacy of phone subscribers, as required by law. We call on the Federal Trade Commission and the FCC to work together to protect subscriber privacy, rather than standing on the sideline passing responsibility from one to the other.”