EPIC Urges Swift Action on FCC Data Retention Mandate
In a statement to the Senate Committee on Appropriationst, EPIC asked Congress to obtain assurances from the FCC Chair to repeal the FCC regulation that requires telephone companies to keep customer's phone records for 18 months. EPIC warned that the regulation "places at risk the privacy of users of network services." Two years ago, EPIC, joined by consumer privacy organizations, technical experts, and legal scholars, submitted a formal petition to the FCC, calling for the repeal of the data retention ruie. The FCC recently docketed the petition and accepted public comments on the matter. All of the commentators favored the EPIC petition to end the mandate. The next step will be for the FCC to begin a Rulemaking to Repeal 47 C.F.R.§42.6 ("Retention of Telephone Records").