Recode notes that to skeptical Internet users, votes to trash the Federal Communications Commission's internet privacy regulations amounts to major handoffs of users' most sensitive personal data to the likes of Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and Charter.
President Donald Trump has signed a resolution to repeal the internet privacy regulations introduced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under former President Barak Obama.
He insists the bill could allow internet providers to sell information about their customers' browsing habits. The lack of clear privacy rules and guidelines means companies that provide internet service, and who can monitor how consumers use it, can continue to use that information for their own advertising businesses. "Period." In a blog post yesterday, AT&T said it would not change those policies after Trump signs the repeal.
"There has been a lot of misleading talk about how the congressional action this week to overturn the regulatory overreach of the prior FCC will now permit us to sell sensitive customer data without customers' knowledge or consent", added Lewis.
"We do not sell our broadband customers' individual web browsing history", Comcast said in a statement last week.
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Until the chemical attack, the Trump administration had sought to step back from the U.S. position that Assad should leave power. The text also condemned the reported use of chemical weapons and demanded a speedy investigation.
It is great to hear that these three companies still value their customers' privacy and have no intention of making any additional money by selling individual web browsing data to advertisers.
Going forward, Internet Service Providers will not need to get permission from customers to sell customer data like web browsing history, but following customer outcry and confusion over the repeal of the law, many ISPs have said customer data won't be sold.
AT&T and Verizon echoed the sentiment as they scrambled to calm customers rattled by the House's revocation of broadband-privacy rules that had been approved last October in the final weeks of the Obama administration.
"If President Trump clicks his pen and signs this resolution, consumers will be stripped of critical privacy protections in a NY minute", Schumer said. It also prevents the FCC from adopting similar rules in the future. There had been complaints that the FCC's rules applied to ISPs but not websites such as Facebook and Google.
In other words, ISPs can still sell their users' data, which includes browsing history and app usage, to a highest bidder. Comcast's spokesperson, Gerard Lewis said as much in a statement provided by the company.
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