posted 01-31-2017 03:47 PM                  

A fledgling federal rule to prevent Internet providers from harvesting and selling information about customers’ Web browsing without their consent appears destined for the chopping block under the Trump administration.

In what the Federal Communications Commission called an effort to give broadband customers more meaningful choice, transparency and protection over how their personal information is used, the agency passed rules mandating that Internet providers obtain explicit permission from customers to use and share personally identifiable data for things like targeted advertising.

The new rules, which took effect Jan. 3, are already facing a full-court press from a cadre of lobbyists and trade groups representing Internet providers and advertising companies chafing at what they see as an overbroad and unfair attempt to constrict their access to the currency of the digital economy.

Internet providers like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T, proponents of the regulations said, aren’t content to sit on the sidelines while the likes of Google and Facebook make billions of dollars by selling their users’ data to advertisers.

“The truth of the matter is that (the Internet providers) want to be Google and Facebook and compete with those companies, so they feel as if they’re at a disadvantage,” said Dallas Harris, a legal and policy fellow at Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group.
More By Dominic Fracassa

Trump tweets prompt firms to rethink crisis communication plans
FILE - In this March 17, 2015, file photo, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on net neutrality, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Under a President Donald Trump, cable and phone companies could gain new power to influence what you do and what you watch online, not to mention how much privacy you have while you�re at it. Many experts say that Republicans who generally oppose regulation are likely to take charge at the FCC, the government�s primary telecom regulator. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File)
In farewell speech, FCC chair warns of threats to net neutrality
President and engineer Keith Leitch of kkpm.tv and Broken FM shows his broadcast station on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Low-power TV stations serving niches could cede airwaves to Wi-Fi

Advertisers spent $17.6 billion online in the U.S. alone in the third quarter of 2016, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. That’s up $2.9 billion from the previous quarter. Marketing trade group Digital Context Next estimates that Facebook and Google accounted for 99 percent of that growth.

On top of browsing histories, the commission included “precise geo-location data, financial information, health information, children’s information, Social Security numbers, app usage history and the content of communications” in the private data Internet providers must obtain permission to collect. Previously, Internet providers could collect and sell that data unless customers tell them to stop.

For the rest of the story:
http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/New-broadband-privacy-rules-face-perilous-future-10872822.php