Web Publication: Privacy News Online, by Caleb Chen
What privacy?
This brief article – more like an announcement, should be greeted with great concern. It describes an effort to allow telecoms to sell our browser history. The article highlights the Representatives that sponsor the bill and also contains a link to a similar summary of the Senate sponsors. For those that want to go straight to the horses mouth here is the link to H.J. Res. 86.
To fully understand all the legalities, I’m sure one would need to be a Washington lawyer, but given that plain English is sufficient for most of us, here is the text; make of it what you will: “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to “Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services” (81 Fed. Reg. 87274 (December 2, 2016)), and such rule shall have no force or effect.”
No force or effect…[applied to]… Protecting the Privacy of Customers.
As a former Republican and now Independent, I’m shocked but not shocked. You are for sale, while you’re busy watching Game of Thrones reruns and checking your Facebook status. Are these people getting kickbacks or golden parachutes after they leave congress? Who knows? So while we really have no privacy now what with the CIA and all, I do think selling our browser history is a substantial new low. Virtually everyone will become susceptible to an Ashley Madison-like event, meaning, fear about any browsing you wanted to remain absolutely free from exploitation. How many will have to think twice before reading up about medical symptoms occurring down in the nether-regions? If anything can be sold, that makes all your political browsing available to the highest bidder including the feds. They won’t even need the CIA or NSA. Orwell, 1984, has nothing on us, 2017.
