Senate voted to allow selling your browser history to advertisers

Written by Matti Robinson @ 25 Mar 2017 12:11 User comments (5)

The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to allow service providers to sell private web browsing data to third parties, namely advertisers. Under Democratic control the Senate voted to apply new Federal Communications Commission rules to internet service providers (ISPs) last October but the proposal to eliminate them has now passed the Senate 50-48.

Once the ruling is passed, after a Republican majority in the House votes for it, your ISP can sell your private web browsing data to third parties without seeking acceptance from either the consumer or the courts. Usually ISPs would sell the data to advertisers or ad networks for them to target you more efficiently.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called what seems to be an inevitable reversal of the FCC rules a "crushing loss for online privacy". If the House of Representatives pass the reversal it can be only be stopped by a President's veto. Will Trump be worried about privacy of the citizens in this case? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Ars Technica has released a new guide on explaining how this new ruling might affect you and in what ways you could fight it. This includes using HTTPS, VPN services or Tor.

Tags: EFF Privacy U.S. Congress US Senate advertising Advertisements Donald Trump

<Super Mario Run now available for Android >Man blackmails movie studios, plan backfires

5 user comments

130.3.2017 10:10

msmithfl

Send private message to this user

Newbie

Clickbait title grab on this. Get your facts straight.

The vote actually stopped implementation of a NEW regulation, NOT anything that allows ISP's to do something they aren't already doing.

The vote is definitely stupid for elected officials that claim they are trying to help their constituents. That is, unless the only constituents they care about are large, money-spending corporations.

But, at least get the story straight or you'll lose credibility when you need it.

230.3.2017 13:55

cdhanks

Send private message to this user

Newbie

Originally posted by msmithfl:
Clickbait title grab on this. Get your facts straight.

The vote actually stopped implementation of a NEW regulation, NOT anything that allows ISP's to do something they aren't already doing.

The vote is definitely stupid for elected officials that claim they are trying to help their constituents. That is, unless the only constituents they care about are large, money-spending corporations.

But, at least get the story straight or you'll lose credibility when you need it.

Perhaps you should do more research before commenting. Under Obama a rule was put in place to protect our privacy. Drumpf and his cronies just overturned that rule that now allows the sale of our (once) private searches so we can be deluged with advertising tailored to our search history. Welcome to a brave new world.

330.3.2017 18:18

msmithfl

Send private message to this user

Newbie

Originally posted by cdhanks:

Originally posted by msmithfl:
Clickbait title grab on this. Get your facts straight.

The vote actually stopped implementation of a NEW regulation, NOT anything that allows ISP's to do something they aren't already doing.

The vote is definitely stupid for elected officials that claim they are trying to help their constituents. That is, unless the only constituents they care about are large, money-spending corporations.

But, at least get the story straight or you'll lose credibility when you need it.

Perhaps you should do more research before commenting. Under Obama a rule was put in place to protect our privacy. Drumpf and his cronies just overturned that rule that now allows the sale of our (once) private searches so we can be deluged with advertising tailored to our search history. Welcome to a brave new world.

Did that, the rule wouldn't take effect until December.

431.3.2017 18:46

ivymike

Send private message to this user

Member

"The best democracy money can buy"

53.4.2017 07:18

Jemborg

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

This is unethical imo.

Opera has a VPN built in I understand. You have to turn it on.

---------------------------------------------------------

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 03 Apr 2017 @ 7:18

Comments have been disabled for this article.

	Android 16 will launch sooner than expected (01 Nov 2024 6:45) Google announced that upcoming Android 16 will break the traditional once-a-year cycle of major Android launches. Next Android is poised to launch in Q2 of 2025, so Android 16 should ship before end of June, 2025.
	Winamp ends its "open source" project that wasn't really open source (20 Oct 2024 11:12) Less than a month after the legendary MP3 player Winamp made its source code public, the company has made a sudden U-turn and removed its code from distribution. 2 user comments
	Winamp released its source code - but didn't go open source (25 Sep 2024 12:38) The source code of Winamp has now been officially released. However, it hasn't become a pure open-source project, as its licensing terms prohibit the creation of new, different versions.
	Does your phone rattle? Here's why it happens (25 Aug 2024 8:30) When you shake your phone and hear a light rattle, clatter, or jingle, it's likely not broken. The culprit is probably the optical image stabilization (OIS) system in your phone's camera, meaning everything is functioning as it should. 2 user comments
	CEO of Messaging App Telegram Arrested in France (25 Aug 2024 7:12) French authorities have detained Pavel Durov, CEO of the messaging service Telegram, amidst an ongoing investigation to determine whether Telegram moderates its platform adequately. 1 user comment

	Does your phone rattle? Here's why it happens When you shake your phone and hear a light rattle, clatter, or jingle, it's likely not broken. The culprit is probably the optical image stabilization (OIS) system in your phone's camera, meaning everything is functioning as it should. 2 user comments
	Guide: Phone battery drains quickly - how to fix (iPhone / Android) In this guide, we go through the most typical reasons for rapid battery drain with phones, and look at potential reasons or solutions.
	What happens if you don't update Android? Sometimes it can be tempting to avoid updating to a new Android version. What happens if you decide to delay major updates to the OS?
	What IP rating for dust and water resistance means An IP classification (such as IP68) is given to mobile phones, Bluetooth speakers, and other devices, but what do these classifications mean? 1 user comment
	Guide: Is Your Wi-Fi Sluggish or Slow? Here's How to Fix Do you have problems with you Wi-Fi? Slow connection or is it cutting off constantly? This guide aims to remedy these problems. 1 user comment

Senate voted to allow selling your browser history to advertisers

5 user comments

Latest news

Reviews

Guides

News archive

Subscribe

Sections:

Follow us:

	Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review - obstacle avoidance doesn't work as it should, otherwise almost perfect robot vacuum We put the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra through a very, very long review process. The $1800 mopping robot vacuum is almost perfect, but its obstacle avoidance was surprisingly bad, considering the price - and compared to its competitors.
	Sharge x OnePlus Pouch review: Beautiful power bank that supports SuperVOOC charging In our review, we take a look at Sharge's power bank that supports OnePlus SuperVOOC quick charging technology as well as standard USB PD charging. It has small design flaws, but despite those, the Pouch is very nice product. 1 user comment
	Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.