Jon Fortt

An interview with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai.

The way many of the headlines about Internet privacy rules are written, Chairman Pai's stance on letting Internet service providers market your usage data doesn't make sense. Why would you want to let Comcast (the parent company of CNBC) or AT&T, or Verizon, for example, sell that information? Chairman Pai argued that's not the point. Companies like Google and Facebook already have access to tons of information on us, Chairman Pai said. Unless we set a level playing field, we let them off the hook. "We just want every company that is handling consumers' data to handle it in the same way. I think that's something that would give consumers a much better sense of confidence when they go online," Chairman Pai said. In other words, if you're outraged about Comcast selling your browsing habits, you should be just as outraged about Silicon Valley doing it. First level the playing field, Chairman Pai suggested, then make rules that apply to everyone. He has a lot of skeptics to win over, especially in the tech world.