Comcast, AT&T and Verizon say they don’t collect personal data unless customers allow it.
Comcast, AT&T and Verizon moved to reassure their customers Friday that they have not and will not collect and sell their personal data.
All three companies made such statements a few days after the House of Representatives passed a resolution that would prevent tougher Federal Communications Commission rules on data collection from taking effect. The Senate passed the resolution earlier and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law in the coming days.
The bill will allow broadband providers to continue to share customers’ web browsing history and other personal data with marketers without first getting permission. The FCC, under former President Barack Obama, in October enacted rules that required broadband providers to get their customers’ consent before they could share “sensitive” information about them with marketers and other third parties. The rules had not yet gone into effect.
The broadband providers, weighing into the heated issue on customers’ privacy and data collection, all said Friday they’ve never collected and sold customer data, unless explicitly allowed to do so by a customer.
“We do not sell our broadband customers’ individual web browsing history,” Gerard Lewis, Comcast’s deputy general counsel, wrote.
