What to Take Away from the FCC Settlement with Verizon over CPNI

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission reached a $7.4 million settlement with Verizon over the company’s misuse of its customers’ private information (“customer proprietary network information,” or “CPNI”) for internal marketing, which violated longstanding federal privacy rules. The settlement was particularly notable for a few reasons: First, the FCC has privacy rules, and those rules are no joke. Second, this settlement wouldn’t have happened if not for Title II. Third, this is a prime example of why we oppose industry’s efforts to eliminate the FCC’s privacy jurisdiction.