Warning: Your browser history will be for sale
WH to allow data sales
Broadband Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon will be able to sell customers’ sensitive private information — including Web-browsing histories — under a House resolution passed Tuesday evening.
In a 215-205 vote, the House effectively nullified a December 2016 Federal Communications Communication rule that required broadband Internet service providers to get permission from customers before selling their personal information to third parties.
The measure passed the GOP-led Senate on March 23, along a party line vote of 50-48. The resolution now heads to President Trump’s desk, where he is expected to sign it.
According to the FCC, customers’ “sensitive private information” includes everything from app downloads, browsing histories, precise geo-locations and even financial and medical data.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sponsored the resolution in the House and argued that the FCC rule usurped the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission.
“Having two privacy cops on the beat will create confusion within the Internet ecosystem and will end up harming consumers,” Blackburn said Tuesday. “These broadband privacy rules are unnecessary and just another example of big government overreach.”
Verizon, Comcast and AT&T are among Blackburn’s top political donors, fund-raising records from the Center for Responsive Politics show.
Democrats blasted Republicans for betraying the privacy rights of consumers.
“Keep your mitts off of my privacy — what I consider to be private,” Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) fumed on the House floor.
“The consequences of passing this resolution are clear. Broadband providers like AT&T, Comcast and others will be able to sell your personal information to the highest bidder without your permission and no one will be able to protect you, not even the Federal Trade Commission.”
The White House in a blog post Tuesday explained why the president wanted the FCC rule overturned.
“The rule requires ISPs to obtain affirmative ‘opt-in’ consent from consumers to use and share certain information . . . It also allows ISPs to use and share other information, including e-mail addresses and service-tier information, unless a customer ‘opts out.’ ”
The post continues: “In doing so, the rule departs from the technology-neutral framework for online privacy administered by the Federal Trade Commission. This results in rules that apply very different regulatory regimes based on the identity of the online actor.”