Republican lawmakers just made it legal to buy search histories, so let’s buy theirs
Yesterday was a very bad day for the real world, as Trump abandoned Obama’s climate change measures in favor of an attempt to time-travel back to a time when the coal industry was still thriving. It was also a very bad day in the digital world, as Republicans quietly made it possible for telecommunications companies to sell your browsing history.
Under Obama, the idea was that the things you’ve looked at online are your business and your property. The House yesterday approved a bill that, according to the New York Times, “not only gives cable companies and wireless providers free rein to do what they like with your browsing history, shopping habits, your location and other information gleaned from your online activity, but it would also prevent the Federal Communications Commission from ever again establishing similar consumer privacy protections.”
That’s very bad! There’s a binary in technology between convenience and privacy, dictating that as our various devices get ever-more connected and consume ever-more data we are off-boarding increasing amounts of our personal information to the companies that made those devices. This bill tips the scales, perhaps permanently, in favor of the corporations.
Self-described “net neutrality activist” Adam McElhaney is attempting to deliver some comeuppance to the Republican lawmakers who approved this measure. A GoFundMe that is currently trending on Reddit is attempting to collect $1 million dollars, with which McElhaney says he will purchase: