Congress Moves to Overturn Obama-Era Online Privacy Rules

Congress completed its overturning of the nation’s strongest internet privacy protections for individuals in a victory for telecommunications companies, which can track and sell a customer’s online information with greater ease. In a 215-to-205 vote largely along party lines, House Republicans moved to dismantle rules created by the Federal Communications Commission in October.

Those rules, which had been slated to go into effect later this year, had required broadband providers to receive permission before collecting data on a user’s online activities. The action, which follows a similar vote in the Senate, will next be brought to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign the bill into law. A swift repeal may be a prelude to further deregulation of the telecommunications industry. Broadband companies immediately celebrated the House vote. They promised they would honor their voluntary privacy policies, noting that violations would be subject to lawsuits.