Companies Brace for FCC’s Added Layer of Data Breach Oversight

An appeals court’s decision to uphold expanded data breach reporting requirements by the Federal Communications Commission means companies will have to be more diligent in disclosing hacks—if the agency chooses to enforce its rules.

The FCC’s rule, which was finalized in December 2023, has long been criticized by affected companies for adding a layer of disclosure at the federal level on top of a patchwork of state laws. A group of trade groups, in their legal challenge, objected to the compliance rule as not only overly burdensome but also outside the scope of FCC’s authority.

“The reality here is that ...