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Happy Tuesday! It’s the last day in April, which means the internet will surely be flooded with that one Justin Timberlake <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/04/30/its-gonna-may-justin-timberlake-meme-explained/4873185001/">meme</a>. Send news tips and your favorite pop tracks to: <a href="mailto:cristiano.lima@washpost.com">cristiano.lima@washpost.com</a>. Today:

The FCC just doled out big privacy fines. It could soon lose that power.

POOL New

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday unveiled one of its most significant enforcement actions on data privacy in recent years, <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-fines-largest-wireless-carriers-sharing-location-data">issuing nearly $200 million in fines</a> against top wireless carriers for sharing customers’ location data without their consent.

The move seeks to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/02/28/fcc-proposes-roughly-200-million-fines-against-wireless-carriers-mishandling-customers-location-data/">cap a lengthy</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fcc-deadlock-shields-wireless-companies-from-privacy-penalties-11671485450">contentious regulatory battle</a> over reports that AT&amp;T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile <a href="https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/following-wydens-investigation-verizon-pledges-to-end-contracts-with-companies-that-sell-americans-location-">improperly sold access</a> to users’ personal information to data “aggregators” who then resold them to third parties, allegedly violating consumer protections.&nbsp;

The companies disputed claims of wrongdoing <a href="https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2024/04/fcc-fines-major-wireless-carriers-200m-illegally-selling-customer-location-data/396162/">in statements on Monday</a>, saying the action lacked legal merit and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-29/wireless-carriers-say-they-ll-fight-fcc-over-fines-for-sharing-customer-data">vowing to appeal the FCC’s move</a>.

Soon, though, the issue could be out of the agency’s hands.

Earlier this month, two key lawmakers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/07/congress-privacy-deal-cantwell-rodgers/">unveiled a sprawling privacy proposal</a> that would for the first time set a federal baseline around how companies collect, use and share users’ personal data. The measure, led by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), marked a major milestone in the years-long push to pass a federal privacy law.

But since it was rolled out, consumer advocacy groups and nonprofits have <a href="https://www.techpolicy.press/experts-provide-early-analysis-of-the-american-privacy-rights-act/">expressed concern</a> that the bill as written would largely strip the FCC of its authority to police potential privacy abuses in the telecom sector, <a href="https://cyberscoop.com/adppa-fcc-privacy-ftc-congress-telecom/">a shift that some advocates have long opposed</a>.

It’s one of several simmering disputes that could now come to a head as lawmakers renew efforts to deliver a long-sought national privacy framework.

Under the recent proposal, the FCC’s authority in the space would largely be preempted, leaving most federal oversight on data privacy to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The legislation would prevent the agency from issuing fines like it did on Monday, warned Sara Collins, director of government affairs at the consumer group Public Knowledge. She said that’s concerning because as the nation’s top telecom regulator, the FCC is uniquely positioned to enforce rules against the misuse of users’ personal information, such as location data.

“The FCC is an expert regulator. It understands the intricacies of how data needs to be both processed to effectively create these communications networks and also what’s an out-of-bounds step for … consumers and their data,” she said.

Samir Jain, vice president of policy at the Center for Democracy &amp; Technology (CDT) nonprofit, echoed the remarks. “Our preference would be to leave the authority with the FCC because it has so much expertise and experience in dealing with communications providers,” he said.

Cantwell, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, said in an interview earlier this month that the language is intended to consolidate federal enforcement on privacy.&nbsp;

“People wanted to know who was going to control privacy enforcement, and so we wanted it to be under one entity … That entity, we think, is the FTC,” Cantwell said.&nbsp;

The FTC has long enforced data privacy standards under its existing consumer protection powers, but agency leaders have repeatedly urged Congress to pass broader privacy standards for the internet and give them greater tools to crack down on potential offenders.&nbsp;

CDT’s Jain said that for the privacy legislation to be “effective,” the FTC would need to be “fully resourced,” and that displacing the FCC’s powers would create “another competing priority.”

The override could also prompt pushback from the FCC, which last year <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairwoman-rosenworcel-launches-privacy-and-data-protection-task-force">launched a new task force</a> dedicated to data privacy and protection issues.

Democratic FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement to The Technology 202 that as “Congress continues to have an important discussion on the future of a national privacy law, we must recognize the vital role the FCC has played in protecting consumer data.”

“Using its current authorities, the FCC has successfully put in place privacy policies that help keep basic information on consumer communications safe and secure,” she added.

But Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr expressed support for efforts to consolidate privacy oversight at the FTC. “I agree that this should have been left with the FTC,” he told me.

In 2022, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including McMorris Rodgers, advanced a privacy bill that also would have shifted more privacy powers to the FTC.

But Collins said the new language is “written very broadly” and could undercut the FCC’s authority in areas beyond privacy, including around its enforcement against robocalls.

<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/29/24144317/elon-musk-supreme-court-twitter-sitter-sec-tesla" target="_blank">Supreme Court rejects Elon Musk’s efforts to get rid of his ‘Twitter sitter’ (The Verge)</a>

<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/tiktok-ban-in-eu-is-not-excluded-von-der-leyen-says/" target="_blank">TikTok ban in EU is ‘not excluded,’ von der Leyen says (Politico)</a>

<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/29/nist-launches-a-new-platform-to-assess-generative-ai/" target="_blank">NIST launches a new platform to assess generative AI (TechCrunch)</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/29/meta-oversight-board-layoffs/" target="_blank">Meta’s oversight body prepares to lay off workers (By Naomi Nix)</a>

<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/29/24144333/meta-record-lobbying-q1-2024-us-government-big-tech" target="_blank">Meta had its biggest lobbying quarter ever (The Verge)</a>

<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-29/apple-s-ipad-hit-by-eu-s-digital-dominance-crackdown" target="_blank">Apple’s iPad hit by EU’s digital dominance crackdown (Bloomberg)</a>

<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-29/from-tesla-to-tiktok-rising-us-china-tensions-focus-on-data-security?srnd=technology-vp" target="_blank">TikTok, Tesla are just the start of U.S.-China clash over Big Data (Bloomberg)</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/28/tesla-trial-autopilot-lawsuit/" target="_blank">Lawsuits test Tesla claim that drivers are solely responsible for crashes (By Trisha Thadani)</a>

<a href="https://www.404media.co/russia-clones-wikipedia-censors-it-bans-original/" target="_blank">Russia clones Wikipedia, censors it, bans original (404 Media)</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/29/tiktok-capcut-ban-impact/" target="_blank">A TikTok ban could also end short-form video as we’ve come to know it (By Taylor Lorenz)</a>

The House Energy and Commerce Committee <a href="https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=117216">holds a hearing</a>, “Preserving Americans’ Access to AM Radio,” today at 10:30 a.m.

The House Appropriations Committee <a href="https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=117210">holds a budget hearing</a> for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency today at 2 p.m.

The Senate Judiciary Committee <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/the-no-fakes-act-protecting-americans-from-unauthorized-digital-replicas">holds a hearing</a>, “The NO FAKES Act: Protecting Americans from Unauthorized Digital Replicas,” today at 2:30 p.m.

The Senate Commerce Committee <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2024/5/executive-session">holds a legislative markup</a> on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

The Senate Commerce Committee <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2024/5/the-future-of-broadband-affordability">holds a hearing</a>, “The Future of Broadband Affordability,” Thursday at 10 a.m.

That’s all for today — thank you so much for joining us! Make sure to tell others to subscribe to&nbsp;<a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/60/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a">The </a><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/61/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a">Technology</a><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/62/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a"> </a><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/63/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a">202</a><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/64/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a"> here</a>. Get in touch with Cristiano (via <a href="mailto:cristiano.lima@washpost.com">email</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/viaCristiano">social media</a>) and Will (via <a href="mailto:will.oremus@washpost.com">email</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/willoremus">social media</a>) for tips, feedback or greetings!

Lehigh University, BA in Political Science

Lehigh University, MA in Political Science

 Cristiano Lima-Strong is a tech policy reporter and author of The Washington Post's Technology 202 newsletter, focusing on the intersection of tech, politics and policy. His coverage focuses on privacy and children’s online safety. He previously served as a senior web producer, breaking news reporter and tech policy reporter for Politico.

Cristiano Lima-Strong

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