FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced on Wednesday that the Federal Communications Commission’s privacy and data protection task force will be partnering with four state governments to strengthen enforcement investigations and pool resources.
The attorneys general of Connecticut, Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania have signed a memorandum of understanding with the FCC to formalize this partnership. Through this collaboration, federal and state investigators will share records, witness interviews, and enforcement work, with the goal of identifying interview targets and reviewing consumer complaints, the FCC said in a press release.
The partnership aims to provide states with expertise and resources to support investigations into various scams, including robocalling scams. Additionally, the commission’s privacy and data protection task force will also focus on investigating and taking enforcement actions on matters such as SIM swapping scams, port-out fraud, and data breaches.
This partnership will facilitate the introduction of state enforcers to other federal agencies working on similar cases and provide expertise on how to utilize tools such as subpoenas and confidential response letters from targets, the press release stated.
Privacy advocate Harold Feld of Public Knowledge expressed confidence in the partnership and its potential to enhance the effectiveness of both state and federal investigators. He also expressed hope that additional states will join the partnership to benefit from the FCC’s expertise and broaden the overall experience and expertise of state enforcers.
The FCC and state enforcers have already collaborated to address robocalls, according to the FCC release.
