House sends bill to Trump blocking online privacy regulation

Last week, the Senate voted to revoke the rules. Every Democrat also voted against this bill.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Republicans put profits over the privacy concerns of Americans. "With few exceptions, Americans have no right to say 'don't sell my data, '" she said. The majority vote cast was 215-205 affecting internet service providers and customers' personal information. Under the legislation, ISPs will for the first time be on the same footing as companies like Google and Facebook when it comes to collecting and monetizing data.

But the FCC's previous chairman, Democrat Tom Wheeler, oversaw the rules' crafting to strengthen consumer online data protections. The FCC earlier this month delayed the data rules from taking effect.

Republicans argued that the FCC overstepped its bounds and that it was up to the Federal Trade Commission to regulate privacy.

"It totally wipes out privacy protections for consumers on the Internet", Democratic Representative Anna Eshoo said on the floor.

Opponents blasted it as a huge loss of online privacy for internet users.

"This is, I think, a political disagreement as to what alphabet soup agency should be making the rules", said Tamashasky. "The internet has become the awesome tool that it is because it is largely left untouched by regulation_and that shouldn't stop now", McCarthy said.

"Give me one good reason why Comcast should know what my mother's medical problems are", said congressman Mike Capuano when the bill was being debated.

Broadband providers do not now fall under FTC jurisdiction, and advocates say the FTC has historically been a weaker agency than the FCC. The American Civil Liberties Union urged Trump to veto the resolution, appealing to his populist side.

It is now on President Trump's desk, and he is expected to sign it into law soon. Republicans repeatedly discounted the privacy benefits generated by the rule. The criticism of their efforts was particularly harsh Tuesday. Rep. Michael Capuano, a democrat from MA said. The Senate last week voted 50-48 on the same measure. The regulation would prohibit ISPs like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast from sharing that data without getting explicit content from consumers via an "opt-in" agreement.

The legislation is now on its way to President Trump's desk.

Not much, at least immediately. It's a big loss for consumers because-internet providers now have the powers to do as they so please with your browsing history-whether you permit it or not. "It really doesn't go to, what's the best rule, what's the most effective rule".

Although customers could choose to abandon their provider, privacy activists say there is often little choice within a specific geographical area.

A draft mock-up of the billboard states: "They betrayed you".

Yes, but it's not easy. "And you can always choose to use a different website if you want to avoid Google's tracking". A VPN, or virtual private network, is one option to protect your online identity. In fact, you've allowed it to happen in many cases. "Consumers would have no privacy rules".

The repeal of the rule doesn't necessarily mean your browsing history is up for bids. There is a long tradition of the government protecting such information.