Enlarge / President Donald Trump. (credit: Getty Images News | Pool)
President Donald Trump today signed a repeal of online privacy rules that would have limited the ability of ISPs to share or sell customers’ browsing history for advertising purposes. Trump’s action follows the Senate and House voting to eliminate the rules issued by the Federal Communications Commission during Barack Obama’s presidency.
“President Trump has signed away the only rules that guarantee Americans a choice in whether or not their sensitive Internet information is sold or given away,” said Chris Lewis, VP of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge. “This law also eliminates the requirement that broadband providers notify their customers of any hacking or security breaches.”
While Democrats in Congress urged Trump to veto the repeal, it was clear last week that Trump would not do so. “The White House supports Congress using its authority under the Congressional Review Act to roll back last year’s FCC rules on broadband regulation,” Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday in a press briefing. Spicer also criticized the FCC’s 2015 reclassification of ISPs as common carriers, a designation that was used to implement both the privacy rules and net neutrality rules. The net neutrality rules could also be rolled back under Trump’s leadership.
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Source: Ars Technica – Trump’s signature makes it official: ISP privacy rules are dead