From the Daily Caller:

“There are these little fiefdoms across the federal government, and they are all concerned with asserting their own power and authority,” Zachary Graves, a policy expert with the R Street Institute, a free market think tank, told TheDCNF.

“When they engage in duplicative functions, it creates unnecessary compliance costs and confusion,” said Graves, who added, “While there are real concerns with ISP privacy, the appropriate venue for that debate is with Congress or the FTC.”

Proponents of the privacy regulations argue that the rule protected American consumers and their personal data. Public Knowledge, a digital-consumers rights public interest group, says that repeal means there is nothing stopping ISPs from selling a consumer’s private web browsing history without their permission.

“Without the FCC’s broadband privacy rules, Americans go from being internet users to marketing data,” Dallas Harris, a policy fellow at Public Knowledge told TheDCNF. “The Senate just used the Congressional Review Act to weaken consumer privacy online,” Harris continued.

The FCC, established in 1934 and significantly modified in 1996, regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. The FCC’s mission is to work towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the media, public safety and homeland security. (RELATED: Ajit Pai Wants To Stop Robocalls, Telemarketers)

ISP advertising has the potential to help offset the cost of internet connections for consumers, Graves explained. “Most online services already rely on private data to serve us ads. This is why we don’t have to pay a subscription fee for Gmail and Facebook.” ISP advertising has the potential to help offset the cost of internet connections,” he said.

 

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