The White House “strongly supports” a bill passed by both the House and Senate that would allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to sell an individual’s internet browsing history without their consent.
The bill, which the House voted to support Tuesday, would nullify a rule enacted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under President Obama, which requires ISPs to obtain consent from customers before using or sharing information such as browsing history, social security numbers and precise geo-location.
The law was supported in Congress largely along party lines.
Democratic Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison said, “I know there has got to be somebody in this body who believes [internet service providers] should not have anybody’s underwear size.”
Republicans, however, don’t seem to be worried about people knowing their underwear size and supported the law amidst a push to rollback Obama-era regulations. Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Technology Association, said, “The Obama-era regulation threatens to undermine innovation and competition in the internet ecosystem.”
Internet privacy advocates, however, see the regulation as necessary. “Without the FCC’s broadband privacy rules, Americans go from being internet users to marketing data — from people to the product,” Dallas Harris, policy fellow at Public Knowledge, said in a statement.
ISPs can see everything consumers do online, including website visits and online searches. This is unless one uses a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The passing of the legislation by the House caused Twitter’s general counsel Vijaya Gadde to tweet, “Time to start using a VPN at home.”
Max Temkin, who created the popular card game Cards Against Humanity, tweeted Monday, “If this shit passes I will buy the browser history of every congressman and congressional aide and publish it.”
The White House supported the House passing the legislation, and said in a statement if it were “presented to the president, his advisors would recommend that he sign the bill into law.”