Senate Dems offer bill to restore internet privacy rules

Senate Democrats introduced legislation on Thursday that would reinstate internet privacy rules repealed earlier this week.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule, passed in October, required internet service providers to get permission from customers before selling data about them to advertisers.

A bill to repeal the rules narrowly passed Congress last month, and President Trump signed it into law on Monday. That measure also prohibits the FCC from reinstating the regulations or anything substantially similar.

{mosads}The new legislation, introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), would undo the repeal and reinstate the regulations, which were set to go into effect later this year.

“Thanks to Congressional Republicans, corporations, not consumers, are in control of sensitive information about Americans’ health, finances, and children,” Markey said in a statement. 

“The Republican roll-back of strong broadband privacy rules means ISP no longer stands for Internet Service Provider, it stands for ‘Information Sold for Profit.’” 

The bill is being co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.).

It is extremely unlikely Markey’s bill will get off the ground, and Republicans have stood by the move in the face of criticism.

Defenders of the repeal say that the regulations unfairly subjected internet service providers to privacy restrictions not required of websites like Facebook and Google, which account for much of the internet’s advertising market.