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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
April 15, 2015 Morning Washburn, 202-418-0067
E-mail: morning.washburn@fcc.gov
FCC JOINS ASIA PACIFIC PRIVACY AUTHORITIES
Washington, D.C. - The Federal Communications Commission, through its Enforcement Bureau, has joined the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA), the principal international forum for privacy enforcement authorities in the Asia Pacific Region. This partnership is an opportunity for the FCC to leverage regional expertise and exchange ideas about data protection, cross-jurisdiction law enforcement, and the management of consumer privacy complaints.
* "As we have seen in our recent investigations, threats to consumer privacy and data security do not respect international borders," said Travis LeBlanc, Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau. "In today's increasingly interconnected world, it is critical that we collaborate closely with law enforcement and privacy authorities in the United States and around the globe."
* An increasing number of consumer privacy investigations involve overseas collaboration. The partnership with APPA, along with the FCC's recent membership in the Global Privacy Enforcement Network, will reinforce the work that the FCC is doing to protect the privacy of American consumers. Last week, in its largest privacy and data security action to date, the Enforcement Bureau entered a $25 million settlement with AT&T Services, Inc. to resolve an investigation into consumer privacy violations at AT&T call centers in three countries located in the Asia Pacific region: Mexico, Colombia, and the Philippines. Mexico's Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection and Colombia's Superintendence of Industry and Commerce are members of APPA. In October 2014, the Commission announced its intent to fine phone carriers TerraCom and YourTel $10 million in connection with apparently unreasonable data security practices by the carriers' vendor in India, which resulted in the exposure of 305,000 Americans' personal information on the Internet.
*
* The FCC will join the Federal Trade Commission as U.S. representatives in APPA, an organization which includes the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Data Protection of Hong Kong, Korean Internet and Security Agency, National Authority for Data Protection of Peru, Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore, and Office of the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand.
* More information about the settlement with AT&T Services, Inc. is here:
http://www.fcc.gov/document/att-pay-25m-settle-investigation-three-data-breaches
More information about the Notice of Apparent Liability against TerraCom and YourTel is here:
http://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-plans-10m-fine-carriers-breached-consumer-privacy
-FCC-