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The Honorable Tom Wheeler 
Chairman 
Federal Communications Commission 
445 12th Street SW 
Washington, DC 20554-0004 
The Honorable Jessica Rosenworcel 
Commissioner 
Federal Communications Commission 
445 12th Street SW 
Washington, DC 20554-0004 
The Honorable Michael O'Rielly 
Commissioner 
Federal Communications Commission 
445 12th Street SW 
Washington, DC 20554-0004 
JUN 0 1 201R 
rCC Mail Room 
May 25, 2016 
The Honorable Mignon Clyburn 
Commissioner 
Federal Communications Commission 
445 12th Street SW 
Washington, DC 20554-0004 
The Honorable Aj it Pai 
Commissioner 
Federal Communications Commission 
445 12th Street SW 
Washington, DC 20554-0004 
Dear Chairman Wheeler and Commissioners Clyburn, Rosenworcel, Pai, and O'Rielly: 
The Internet is revolutionizing the way consumers communicate, shop, learn, and entertain 
themselves. It is changing how they control their homes, their cars, and many parts of their lives. 
Consumers derive substantial benefits from using and relying on these connected products and 
services, which are powered and enabled by data. With these uses, consumers have certain 
Internet-related privacy and security expectations. Consumers rightly expect all companies that 
collect and use their data to be transparent about their practices and to provide them with 
appropriate choices with respect to how their information is used and shared. 
Until last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provided a robust consistent privacy 
framework for all companies in the Internet services market. That holistic and consistent 
approach struck the right balance: consumers ' use of Internet services and applications has 
continued to increase and consumers' privacy has been protected. 
As you are aware, a consequence of the FCC' s reclassification of broadband services has been to 
upset this consistent treatment giving rise to the rulemaking now under consideration aimed at 
Internet Service Providers (ISPs ), which comprise only a portion of the Internet services market. 
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We had hoped that the FCC would focus on those protections that have traditionally guarded 
consumers from unfair or deceptive data practices by ISPs and the other companies in the 
Internet services market. But, based on the Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, we 
remain increasingly concerned that the Commission intends to go well beyond such a framework 
and ill-serve consumers who seek and expect consistency in how their personal data is protected. 
If different rules apply to the online practices of only selected entities, consumers may wrongly 
assume that the new rules apply to all of their activities on the Internet. But when they discover 
otherwise, the inconsistent treatment of consumer data could actually undermine consumers' 
confidence in their use of the Internet due to uncertainty regarding the protections that apply to 
their online activities. 
With the above considerations in mind, we strongly urge the FCC to consider a consistent FTC­
type approach to protect consumer privacy that balances consumers' privacy expectations and 
avoids negative impacts on consumers. 
Boilrfj ~ 
Member of Congress 
Gene Green 
Member of Congress 
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Leonard Lance 
Member of Congress 
Renee L. Ellmers 
Member of Congress 
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Sincerely, 
Pete Olson 
Member of Congress 
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Gus M. Bilirakis 
Member of Congress 
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Kurt Schrader 
Member of Congress