FCC seeks stricter privacy rules for ISPs.

• Position: PRIVACY

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In March, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) negotiated a deal with Verizon in which the company agreed to pay $1.35 million for using technology that enabled marketers to track its customers' online activity, CNET reported.

The FCC, according to CNET, wants to make sure that doesn't happen again, so it has proposed regulations meant to protect private consumer information by:

* Requiring Internet service providers (ISPs) to obtain customers' permission before sharing their data with third parties

* Preventing phone companies and cable operators from repurposing and reselling what they learn about consumers' phone or TV viewing activity to marketers

At its March 31 meeting, the FCC voted to open the proposal for public comment. Chairman Tom Wheeler said actual rules likely will be voted on later this year after the comment period ends.

If approved, the proposal would put in place the strongest set of privacy regulations ever established for ISPs, according to CNET. The proposed broadband and wireless rules to give consumers more control over their data are similar to those for cable TV and telephone services, which the FCC already regulates. The rules would:

* Require ISPs to clearly disclose how personal consumer data is collected, how it's shared with third parties, and how it's used by these outside firms

* Mandate that customers...