Chuck Edwards Presses FCC Chairman Brendan Carr About Protecting Consumer Privacy

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During Wednesday’s House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) questioned FCC Chair Brendan Carr about consumer privacy.

Transcript

00:00This is Mr. Edwards for his five minutes of questions.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chair.

00:06Mr. Carr, thanks for being with us this morning.

00:09I went back and looked.

00:11There is an Inspector General's report that was published in March 2024,

00:16and it offers an in-depth analysis of whether the FCC had implemented effective privacy

00:23and data protection policies and procedures in accordance with federal laws, regulations,

00:29and policies, with a focus on the FCC's implementation of requirements identified

00:34in the U.S. Code section on privacy and data protection policies and procedures.

00:41The scope of this privacy and data protection inspection was from fiscal year 2021.

00:52The investigation found that the FCC had not implemented technologies to ensure

00:56that data privacy protections relating to the use collection

00:59and disclosure of information were sustained.

01:02These privacy data protections should have included activities related to cloud computing,

01:10wireless access, public key infrastructure, cryptography, mobile, and voiceover IP devices.

01:17Personnel from the FCC Office of the Chief Information Officer stated

01:21that they had not implemented the use of technologies specific to privacy protection

01:28due to higher priorities, higher priorities, imagine that,

01:31and new agency initiatives that have taken precedence and a lack of expertise in this area.

01:38And as a result of those findings, the FCC Inspector General made only two recommendations.

01:44One, retain knowledgeable expertise in the FCC IT and privacy staff

01:50that would assist in implementing and sustaining the usage of required privacy protections.

01:57And then secondly, to implement a baseline of technologies that sustain

02:01and do not erode privacy protections relating to the use collection and disclosure of information.

02:09I know the folks that I represent make it a very high priority

02:15that their information be protected, especially in the dangerous world that we live in right now,

02:22not only domestically but internationally.

02:24And so I'm just curious, would you even be aware of this study

02:31and what actions has or will the FCC take to deliver on these recommendations

02:37to improve data privacy as outlined in the IG's report?

02:41Yeah, thank you, Congressman, for the question.

02:43Two main points on that.

02:45One is a threshold matter.

02:47Doing a top-to-bottom review of the FCC's approach to IT has been one of the very first things

02:54that we've been doing at the agency.

02:55Part of it goes to the contract review.

02:57But more generally, we're looking to revamp the agency's approach there.

03:02Second, one of the things that we've done right off the bat is to take up some backlogged recommendations,

03:07including from the Inspector General's office, and start to knock out those.

03:11I know we've made significant progress on a number of them.

03:14I want to go back and make certain that one of the ones we've made progress on is the one that you've flagged.

03:20And if not, we're going to put the resources towards it to doing it expeditiously.

03:23And so I'm really disappointed to see that a previous FCC had said that there were higher priorities.

03:32Can you tell me what I can tell my folks back at home in terms of how the FCC is prioritizing their personal data today?

03:43Is this a higher priority today than it was back in this inspection?

03:51Yeah, I can assure you that this is a top priority for us, both in terms of the data privacy issues that you raised,

03:57but also in terms of the agency's own performance.

03:59We need to have the best IT systems.

04:03We need to make sure that they are looking to the future and not based on, you know, bespoke, siloed technologies.

04:08And this is a very, very important work stream for us at the agency right now.

04:12How many people does the FCC Office of the Chief Information Officer employ?

04:18I'll have to get back to you with the specific number on that.

04:21And would you know if that number has changed as a result of the Trump administration's workforce reduction program?

04:28I don't anticipate there's been any significant change in that particular office,

04:32but, again, we can get you more of the specifics on it.

04:36And in your written testimony, you mentioned that the FCC's mission to eliminate waste and improve efficiency.

04:42Many of the savings have come from reviewing and modifying bloated and duplicative IT contracts.

04:48What steps did the FCC take to ensure that such changes to IT systems would not result in the compromise of sensitive personal information?

04:57If we stood up an entire work group in the FCC that pulled from various technical experts,

05:05we've also worked in conjunction with the official Doge group on some of these efforts,

05:10and that's exactly our guide star is to look at where do we have two contracts that are duplicative,

05:14can we consolidate work under one, but there's obviously a baseline level of security and performance

05:19that we're not going to compromise on when we're making those types of decisions.

05:24Mr. Chairman, I'll yield.

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