Verizon urges FCC not to adopt opt-in requirements for ISPs

Verizon met with Federal Communications Commission officials to urge them not to adopt rules that would require broadband providers to obtain their customers' permission before using consumer data to send targeted ads. The FCC voted earlier in April to move forward with proposed rules requiring Internet service providers to ask consumers to opt in to any sharing of their data with third parties, among other things. Those rules would apply to providers of both mobile and fixed-line broadband services, but not to Internet companies like Facebook or Google.

Verizon said in a new filing with the Commission that while it is in "general agreement with the use of a notice and consent framework for addressing the privacy practices," the opt-in requirements would be unfairly burdensome on ISPs looking to compete against Internet companies for ad revenues. "We noted that the broad opt-in requirements proposed in this proceeding are unnecessary to protect consumers and inconsistent with the practices of other Internet companies," wrote William Johnson, Verizon's senior vice president of federal regulatory and legal affairs. "The proposed opt-in requirement -- including for the marketing of a provider's own products and services to its customers and for the internal sharing of customer information with affiliates -- would create substantial practical challenges for broadband providers and would make it more difficult for these providers to bring new competition to the market for online advertising."