Trump signs bill repealing US internet privacy rules2017-04-04 17:12 by Daniela
It's now official. On Monday, President Trump signed legislation that repeals the Federal Communications Commission's privacy protections for Internet users, thus enabling Internet providers to collect, use and sell users' data. The landmark privacy protections established in October 2016 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), imposed a number of restrictions on how ISPs can use customer data. Among other things, the rules forced ISPs to obtain explicit "opt-in" permission from customers before using "sensitive" information — including your browsing history. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai praised the move late on Monday, saying in a statement that the bill "appropriately invalidated one part of the Obama-era plan for regulating the internet." However, privacy advocates have argued against the signing of the bill. "The only people in the United States who want less Internet privacy are CEOs and lobbyists for giant telecom companies, who want to rake in money by spying on all of us and selling the private details of our lives to marketing companies," Evan Greer, campaign director for the Internet activism group Fight for the Future said. Read more -here-
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Philip - 2017-04-05 08:19
The fight seems to be over who can sell your data that is deemed "sensitive", including app usage information, and web browsing history, without your consent. This can also be batched together to include information like age, name, location, and other personal data.
The FCC passed some privacy rules in 2015 restricting ISPs from selling such data, however, critics complained that the FCC is overreaching, and those rules treated broadband providers (cable and phone companies) tougher than internet companies such as Yahoo or Facebook, which are able to sell your data under the FTC privacy framework. Regardless of your stance on the issue, consumer privacy will suffer.
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