Congress has voted to repeal the Broadband Privacy Rules put in place by the Obama Administration that placed privacy restrictions on internet providers. While the Senate approved the repeal last week, the House voted 215-205 on Tuesday, March 28 in favor of repealing, providing the death knell for the regulations before they even went into effect.
The regulations at issue were approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in October 2016, during President Obama’s administration, and would have required internet service providers (ISPs) to obtain consumer consent through an opt-in provision before selling information collected from consumers to advertisers and others. With the regulations repealed, internet providers will be able to sell, share and use data collected from consumers on the websites they visit, including sensitive information about health, finances, and families.
Critics of the regulations have argued that they would have created an unequal playing field on the internet between ISPs regulated by the FCC, such as Comcast or Verizon, and other website operators and “edge” providers, such as Google, regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Critics further argued that the regulations were redundant and created a confusing patchwork of regulations divided between the FCC and FTC.
Meanwhile, privacy advocates are disappointed by the repeal. They have argued that, unlike other website operators who can only obtain data from consumers when the consumer visits their site, internet providers can collect more information about a consumer’s interactions on the internet. They further argue that internet providers require different regulations than other website operators because consumers have fewer choices with respect to ISPs and are often stuck with only one ISP in their service area. Because of little competition in regions between internet providers, consumers lack meaningful choice and cannot take their business elsewhere if they are not satisfied with the internet provider’s data collection practices.
President Trump is expected to sign the repeal.
Update: President Trump signed this legislation on 4/3/17.