In the wake of a congressional vote to reduce internet privacy, it is important for consumers to step back and take a deep breath. The action by the Republican-controlled Congress has led to much breathless reaction in this age of instant outrage, but the actual impact calls for some sober examination.
Both chambers of Congress voted last week to roll back regulations that were passed in October — regulations that would prevent internet providers from harvesting, using, and selling personal records of how customers use the web. The Senate vote went along party lines, with Republicans in favor of halting the Obama-era rules. The House vote was 215-205, with Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, being one of 15 Republicans to break ranks with her party.
Herrera Beutler was on the appropriate side of the issue. And while that issue is troublesome, it is not quite the end of privacy that some commentators would have us believe.
To begin with, the rules approved last year by the Federal Communications Commission had not yet been put in place; the congressional vote merely preserves the status quo. The regulations would have prevented telecommunications companies such as Verizon and AT&T and Comcast from selling information about internet habits, even though companies such as Google and Facebook are allowed to do so.
Therein lies one of the problems with the congressional action. Rather than leveling the playing field for companies by strengthening privacy protections against the Googles of the world, lawmakers opted to benefit telecommunications companies at the further expense of citizens. Companies cull data about internet use and sell it so others can develop targeted advertising; if your internet use indicates that you are a member of the NRA, you are more likely to see a pop-up ad for a sale at the local gun shop.
Members of Congress should seek to protect citizens rather than multinational companies, and yet the action itself is not as disturbing as the process. As Siva Vaidhyanathan wrote for Bloomberg View, the Federal Communications Commission spent years studying the issue before ruling that “telecommunication and cable companies must not exploit the intimate relationships that consumers have with their phones and computers.” Then Congress came along and overturned those rules three weeks after the bill was introduced, further demonstrating lawmakers’ determination to overturn anything associated with the Obama presidency — regardless of its benefits.
Republicans often profess to be the party of limited government. While several members of Congress echoed this argument in support of overturning the would-be regulations, their action cleared the way for increased intrusion upon citizens by private companies. For consumers, government restrictions upon private companies is preferable to having companies invade their privacy in order to make a buck.
But, again, this action does not mean the end of internet privacy. Companies will not root around your computer and find your Social Security number or your health insurance password. They simply can sell your search history to the highest bidder. Consumers, meanwhile, can pay for a virtual private network to avoid such scrutiny, or they can opt-out of the data collection when their internet service provider decides to initiate the practice.
In the end, the action is detrimental to consumers, and it places the interests of major corporations ahead of the interests of citizens. That is disconcerting — even if it does not mean the death of online privacy.
