On Thursday, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of striking yet-to-be-implemented internet privacy rules introduced under the administration of former President Barack Obama, which would have prevented Internet Service Providers from selling information about their customers' internet use to third parties. Under Obama Federal Communications Commission Chair Tom Wheeler, legislation was introduced requiring ISPs to gain the permission of customers before selling their data, giving users the chance to opt out. Vanity Fair reports that 50 Republican votes versus 48 Democratic passed the resolution, sending it to the House of Representatives for consideration.
Technology firms like Facebook, Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) and Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) are said to be "likely pleased," with the ruling. The removal of the planned regulations dictating how the companies can make use of their members' data to target advertising and content most likely makes life easier for managers. While ISPs were going to be blocked from selling customer data, websites were would have been permitted to continue to. This would have resulted in a situation that was described as putting ISPs "at a disadvantage to other tech companies."
Not what Libertarian Trump voters expected
Ana Kasparian, with The Young Turks, reports that the resolution, put forward by Senator from Arizona Jeff Flake, would also prevent the FCC from ever implementing such rules again in the future.
TYT founder Cenk Uygur made note of a group of Libertarians who voted for Donald Trump, seemingly holding the belief that he was "for civil liberties." He explained the situation as one where "donors to Trump" are dictating privacy rules that allow them to make more money, at the expense of reduced consumer privacy.
Ms. Kasparian also featured Washington Post reporting on FCC Chair Ajit Pai's February decision to hold back new rules that would "force internet service providers to better safeguard their data from hackers." Mr.
Uygur observed that Republicans in favor of the measure "hide behind small business," while actually harboring support for "big business." He expressed the belief that the new rules allowing ISPs to sell customer data do not help small businesses in any way, and called ISPs "about as big of a business as you could find."
Cenk Uygur: 'They don't give a damn about you'
The TYT founder stated that many people have become accustomed to having their personal data bought and sold by third parties, but that it was "nice" to have some protections, which are now "gone." He described "protections" as only existing for corporations under Republican presidents, not for "human beings." With regard to Ajit Pai's decision to roll back internet security measures, Cenk Uygur offered the opinion that it is because "they don't give a damn about you."
