Senate vote spikes Net privacy rule

Internet service providers may soon be free to sell their users’ browsing history, where they accessed the internet from, and health and financial information without their permission after the Republican-led Senate voted yesterday to erase an FCC rule enacted under former President Barack Obama.

In a 50-48 vote along party lines, the Senate voted to remove the FCC rule, drawing praise from the telecom industry but fierce criticism from privacy advocates.

“The information about what you do online is your business, it’s very private,” said Vivek Krishnamurthy, assistant director of the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School.

The FCC rule, which was created last year but has not gone into effect, requires ISPs such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T to get permission from customers before using their data or selling it to advertisers. Companies could use the fact that someone spent 15 minutes researching televisions to serve them ads for a specific model of TV, for example.

Still, the telecom industry said the rule treated ISPs unfairly, and put an unnecessary burden on them.

“The Senate’s action represents a critical step towards re-establishing a balanced framework,” NCTA, the Internet & Television Association said in a statement.

The bill is expected to clear the House of Representatives and be sent to President Trump, but it is unclear when the vote will take place.