Data privacy debates have dominated the telecom industry over the past year as the sector reels from the revelation of the NSA's surveillance program targeting mobile and Web information. It's no surprise then that telecommunication providers continue to be embroiled in discussions about the limits of government monitoring capabilities. Along those same lines, debates over net neutrality continue to be waged, with sharp repercussions for the 3G and LTE networks maintained by mobile operators.
More information revealed about FISA requests
The Obama administration recently took steps to display some transparency regarding the government's attempts at collecting user information with some of the country's largest tech companies. President Barak Obama had previously stated his intent to divulge more details about the information collected through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. According to news sources, some of those records have begun to trickle in as companies released the first wave of data requested in this manner. Major players in the tech industry including Google and Facebook were among the initial participants in this process, with the former reportedly receiving nearly 10,000 FISA requests from January to June of 2013.
"Publishing these numbers is a step in the right direction, and speaks to the principles for reform that we announced with other companies last December," Richard Salgado, Google law enforcement and information security legal director, said in a blog post. "But we still believe more transparency is needed so everyone can better understand how surveillance laws work and decide whether or not they serve the public interest."
Lawmakers go to bat for net neutrality
When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down rules established by the Federal Communications Commission in 2010 prohibiting the use of dynamic traffic shaping by service providers, it landed as a major blow against net neutrality. However, a group of lawmakers has introduced legislation that would seek to overturn that decision and restore the principles of the open Internet. Nine Democratic congress members co-sponsored the Open Internet Preservation Act. The bill may face some major obstacles in the House of Representatives, where the majority party previously attempted to repeal FCC rules that preserved net neutrality. The bill's co-sponsors, including Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), have stated that preserving the openness of the Internet and the availability of bandwidth will be vital to continuing healthy development in the digital field.
"The open nature of the Internet has made it the most successful commercial and communications medium in history," Markey said, according to IDG News. "The Internet's vitality and openness drives competition, innovation and job creation and we need to ensure it remains a level playing field for consumers and innovators in the wake of the D.C. circuit court decision."
The debates surrounding net neutrality and data privacy are likely to continue for the foreseeable future, with many telecom operators stuck in the middle. The twin concerns of securing customer information and whether businesses can alter the availability of network resources will be particularly relevant for mobile network service providers. These companies should keep their eyes on these developments as they plan future projects.
