President Trump on Monday signed a bill repealing regulations adopted last October by the Federal Communications Commission that required internet service providers to obtain consent from customers before using sensitive information, including their browsing history and details on their finances and health, to create targeted advertisements.
The bill barely passed in Congress last week, with Republicans siding with internet service providers who said the regulations were unfair. The American Civil Liberties Union has said privacy should be more important than profits, and "most Americans believe that their sensitive internet information should be closely guarded." On Friday, Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast said they would voluntarily not sell their customers' individual web browsing information, Reuters reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 cultural trails to traverse by carThe Week Recommends Leave the hiking shoes at home
-
Could Iran's water crisis be the regime's tipping point?Today's Big Question Drought is a problem. So is government mismanagement.
-
Trump revives K-12 Presidential Fitness TestSpeed Read The Obama administration phased the test out in 2012, replacing it with a program focused on overall health rather than standardized benchmarks
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirementspeed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
