ISPs can now sell user’s web browsing history

Previously, the FCC's broadband privacy rules prevented internet service providers from selling user's web browsing data without opt-in permission. However, last week the US Senate voted to overturn the rules. The controversial vote worked out in the favour of ISPs who were of the opinion that the new regulation could restrain their progress while competing with the presentday advertising marketplace.

The new regulation in question is the one FCC approved back in October, 2016 under a Democratic leadership wherein the ISPs were required to receive opt-in consent from consumers before sharing their private data with third-parties. “Based on the extensive feedback we've received, I am proposing new rules to provide consumers increased choice, transparency and security online,” then FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had said in a statement.

According to a report published by Newatlas, industry and ISP lobby groups had reacted strongly against the FCC's proposed regulations. They argued that the new set of rules placed unfair standards on ISPs when other companies like Facebook and Google were allowed to operate independently. While the 2016 regulation never took effect, the current US Senate has decided to overrule it anyway. “Today the Senate voted along party lines to dismantle the FCC's broadband privacy rules. If signed by the President, this law would repeal the FCC's widely-supported broadband privacy framework, and eliminate the requirement that cable and broadband providers offer customers a choice before selling their sensitive, personal information,” said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny on March 23, 2017. While it appears fair for the ISPs to fight for freedom similar to the ones that their competitors are getting, it is quite prevalent that the former holds control of a kind of data that is much more sensitive and significant by nature.