The Federal Trade Commission yesterday issued orders to AT&T, AT&T Mobility, Comcast Xfinity, Google Fiber, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Cellco to provide specific information regarding the collection, retention, and use of customer data. In its press release, the FTC states the orders are “to better understand Internet service providers’ privacy practices in light of the evolution of telecommunications companies into vertically integrated platforms that also provide advertising-supporting content.” In short, because each of these companies provide content as well as telecommunications services, the FTC wants to make sure customer data is not being used to target ads or for any other unethical purposes.
