Politics Senators vote to allow ISPs to sell your internet history and end FCC online privacy rules

The legislation moves the regulation of ISPs to the FTC from the FCC. As it was, the ISPs were allowed to share private information, including name and address, unless consumers opted out. Facebook, Google, and every other company that's not an ISP could still track you and share your browsing history.

Seems like someone's playing the chicken little game (the sky is falling, oh no!)


http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-internet-privacy-20170330-story.html

Critics focused on the FCC’s requirement that broadband providers obtain a customer’s permission before disclosing “sensitive” information, such as the sites he or she had visited online, a mobile device’s location or the mobile apps used. The FCC allowed broadband providers to share “non-sensitive” information, such as the customer’s name and address, by default unless customers opted out.

That’s a more restrictive approach than the FTC requires websites and online advertising networks to take, critics complain, noting that the FTC doesn’t consider a person’s browsing history or app use to be sensitive information. They’re right about this: Having a single standard for the entire Internet ecosystem would be a good thing, considering how broadband providers, sites, services and apps all compete for some of the same advertising dollars. That’s no reason to set the bar low, however; instead, it’s a good argument for pushing the FTC to demand more of the companies under its jurisdiction.

 

Also, the rule everyone seems to be having a hissy fit about were never in effect.

http://www.businessinsider.com/house-republicans-kill-fcc-broadband-privacy-rules-2017-3

The most notable part of the rules, which has not yet taken effect, would require broadband providers such as Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T to obtain explicit consent before selling their customers’ web-browsing histories, app-usage data, and other personal information to advertisers and other third-parties.

The FCC’s privacy rules imposed a range of guidelines on internet providers regarding how they treat and protect consumer data. The most notable bit would’ve required them to obtain opt-in consent from consumers before they were able to sell “sensitive” information.

Much of what the FCC deemed “sensitive” lined up with items noted similarly in the FTC’s privacy guidelines, including things like geolocation data, financial information, and health information. Notably, however, the FCC said that web-browsing and app-usage data are sensitive enough to require consumers’ explicit permission before being shared with advertisers as well.

That specific provision is not scheduled to take effect until December, though. It’s now extremely unlikely that it ever will take effect, but if it does, your internet provider will have to ask for permission before it's allowed to collect and sell your browsing data and other personal info to advertisers.

Even with the FCC’s slightly stricter privacy guidelines, internet providers would still be able to collect and sell some types of personal data, such as email addresses, without seeking permission first. Consumers would be able to manually opt-out of such policies.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai and other Republicans oppose the agency’s privacy rules because they feel the regulations unfairly target internet service providers more than internet companies such as Google and Facebook.