February 15, 2017 - In October, we told you about some newly proposed privacy rules for internet service providers. At the time, the rules were only proposed by the FCC. Although the rules have now gone into effect they may be short lived. In what we consider to be a very poor decision, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) wants to kill the rules using the Congressional Review Act. If he is successful, ISPs will once again have the ability to monitor your internet habits and then sell the data they collect on you without your permission.

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The FCC's ISP rules are pretty simple. They simply state that ISP's can track you and sell your data to third parties without your permission. In order the get that permission, they actually need to ask you for it… meaning that you have to "opt-in" to being tracked. The rules also require ISPs to tell you what information they collect on you and how that information is used.

Considering that you have to pay for internet service, the rules seem quite reasonable. Most people purchasing internet service do it thinking, "Wow, wouldn't it be great to have my ISP track me and then sell my data to anyone who wants it?"

But for obvious reasons, ISPs don't agree with us. They want to be able to sell your data. And they are apparently going to get their wish.

When the FCC rules were first published, we said we thought they were a good start. The idea that it is an imposition on companies for them to get your permission to sell your information is simply ridiculous. 

byJim Malmberg

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