Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has proffered an opt-in centric "Internet Bill of Rights" for ISPs and edge providers that Khanna says was based "in part on the input provided during conversations with" a Who's Who of edge providers including Amazon, Apple, Google, Twitter, Facebook and others.

It consultation equates with support, the edge has gone all in for opt in. Khanna's district includes parts of Silicon Valley.

In rolling out the list, Khanna included a shout out from World Wide Web founder Tim Berners-Lee: "This bill of rights provides a set of principles that are about giving users more control of their online lives while creating a healthier internet economy."

Here is the list Khanna's office e-mailed to B&C/Multichannel News (after first handing it to The New York Times). The bracketed materials are B&C/Multichannel News editorial notations.

(1) "To have access to and knowledge of all collection and uses of personal data by companies;

(2) "To opt-in consent to the collection of personal data by any party and to the sharing of personal data with a third party; [The definition of "personal" would be crucial.]

(3) "Where context appropriate and with a fair process, to obtain, correct, or delete personal data controlled by any company and to have those requests honored by third parties [that is the "erase button" that both Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) advocated for kids' online data for years.

(4) "To have personal data secured and to be notified in a timely manner when a security breach or unauthorized access of personal data is discovered;

(5) "To move all personal data from one network to the next;

(6) "To access and use the internet without internet service providers blocking, throttling, engaging in paid prioritization, or otherwise unfairly favoring content, applications, services, or devices. [effectively restoring the FCC's network neutrality rules].

(7) "To internet service without the collection of data that is unnecessary for providing the requested service absent opt-in consent;

(8) "To have access to multiple viable, affordable internet platforms, services, and providers with clear and transparent pricing;

(9) "Not to be unfairly discriminated against or exploited based on your personal data [no digital red-lining];

and

(10) "To have an entity that collects your personal data have reasonable business practices and accountability to protect your privacy."

WASHINGTON — Cable internet service providers’ drumbeat for equal regulatory scrutiny for the edge continues to be fueled by the business practices of Facebook, that single poster company, whose reputation appears to be suffering despite a mea culpa ad campaign admitting problems and promising change.

Facebook stock was down last week on reports that the Federal Trade Commission investigation into the Cambridge Analytica data sharing fiasco had widened to include the FBI, the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission (with Cambridge Analytica having shared some data with President Donald Trump’s election campaign).

Consumer Reports joined with other groups last week to ask the FTC to open yet another investigation into the social media giant, in this case regarding its privacy controls, which they said “nudge” users toward maximum data collection.

Facebook is already being investigated by the FTC over whether the Cambridge Analytica sharing constituted a breach of a 2011 consent decree. Facebook has said it believes it has remained within the four corners of that decree.

NCTA–The Internet & Television Association president and CEO Michael Powell has been pushing Washington policymakers and others to start looking at edge providers, including Facebook, when they talk about powerful media companies and their potential harmful impacts. The knock has long been primarily reserved for ISPs, but that appears to be the case no longer.

CR headed up a study of Facebook in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica third-party data sharing fiasco that led to congressional hearings and increased scrutiny. It said the study found “privacy intrusive default settings, misleading wording, giving users an illusion of control, hiding away privacy-friendly choices, take-it-or-leave-it choices and choice architectures where choosing the privacy friendly option requires more effort for the users.”

Facebook’s business model relies on monetizing user data through targeted advertising.

Web Founder Piles On

Facebook was also getting some tough love from the founder of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, who told Vanity Fair last week that the power of online platforms and their hijacking by bad actors had “failed humanity” and produced “with no deliberate action of the people who designed the platform, a large-scale emergent phenomenon which is anti-human.”

Berners-Lee is working on a new platform that will attempt to decentralize control of user data from the Facebooks, Amazons and Googles of the world.

Elsewhere on the Facebook front, a large majority of respondents to a new poll said they don’t trust Facebook with their personal data.

Asked for their impressions of the site, 63% of those polled said they “do not trust Facebook to obey the law when it comes to protecting their personal information.” If the FTC came to the same conclusion, it could levy hefty fines for violation of the consent decree. The margin of error of the survey was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. For its part, Facebook’s margin for error in D.C. for protecting user information appears to be narrowing considerably.

Pictured, top: NCTA chief Michael Powell speaks at the Near Future conference in 2017.