Consumer advocates say this means broadband providers will sell your browsing history to the highest bidder. Industry groups say it preserves competition.
The vote Tuesday in the House fell along party lines.
Broadband providers won’t have to get your permission before sharing your web browsing history and other personal data with marketers thanks to a vote Tuesday on Capitol Hill.
Republicans in the US House of Representatives approved a resolution that prevents privacy rules passed by the FCC last year from taking effect. The vote was 215 in favor and 205 opposing the measure.
The Senate voted on Thursday to adopt the resolution to nullify the rules. All that’s left now is for President Donald Trump to sign the order. Earlier Tuesday, the White House said he plans to sign it.
This will essentially repeal the Obama-era regulation passed in October days before Trump was elected. These rules would have required broadband companies to get their customers’ permission before they sell “sensitive” information about their web browsing activity, app usage or whereabouts to marketers. Because Republicans used the Congressional Review Act — a tool that enables lawmakers to expedite bills to reverse recent regulations — it also prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from adopting similar rules in the future.
Proponents of the rules, like consumer advocacy groups, say this is bad news because the rules protect your privacy. Without these regulations, these groups say that broadband providers will be able to sell information about where you’ve been online, what you’re buying, the apps you’re using, and where you’re located to marketers and other third parties, like insurance companies.
