Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to block landmark online privacy protections limiting how Internet service providers use and sell consumer data.
In a White House statement, Trump's administration wrote it "strongly supports House passage" of the bill, which would nullify the Federal Communications Commission's final rule titled "Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunication Services".
One critic of the repeal, Craig Aaron, president of Free Press advocacy group, said major Silicon Valley companies shied away from the fight over the rules because they profit from consumer data.
The House voted 215-205 to reject the rule.
"Overwhelmingly, the American people do not agree with Republicans that this information should be sold, and it certainly should not be sold without your permission", said Pelosi, D-Calif. "And as we all know, privacy shouldn't be about who collects information, it should be about what information is collected and how it is used".
Republicans claim the FCC's rules confuse customers because they only cover Internet providers and not companies like Google and Facebook. It set privacy requirements that internet service providers (ISPs) would need to follow before they could share or sell their consumers' private and sensitive data, such as their financial or health information or browsing history.
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So if the privacy laws are repealed, what can you do to protect their browsing history?
WASHINGTON -US lawmakers have voted to roll back rules that could prevent internet service provider (ISP) companies from selling users' data to third parties without their consent.
Proponents of the privacy measure, though, argued that the company that sells you your internet connection can see even more about consumers, such as every website they visit and with whom they exchange emails.
Out of concern for user privacy, the Federal Communications Commission promulgated rules previous year restricting how companies could use that information. In doing so, the rule departs from the technology-neutral framework for online privacy administered by the Federal Trade Commission.
American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew M. Polka also issued a statement saying it is pleased the House passed the Congressional Review Act resolution nullifying what he calls "the FCC's misguided broadband privacy rules". Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said allowing the FCC and FTC to regulate different swaths of consumers' Internet use would "create confusion within the Internet ecosystem and end up harming consumers".
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