Your browsing history for sale? White House won’t comment on Trump’s intent to sign bill eroding Internet privacy rules
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Sean Spicer indicated President Trump plans to sign a bill that would wipe out some of the Federal Communications Commission’s Internet privacy protections, but declined to discuss the reasons for supporting the legislation at his daily briefing on Wednesday. The legislation, which was sent to Trump by Congress on Tuesday, would eliminate protections that barred Internet service providers from monitoring their customers’ behavior online and selling that information, which could include browsing history, use of apps, Social Security numbers and location information.
Yahoo News asked Spicer if Trump plans to sign the bill and whether the president thinks it benefits anyone other than Internet companies and executives. Spicer pointed to a statement of administration policy issued by the White House on Tuesday that said Trump “strongly supports” the bill, but he declined to comment further.
“The House and Senate have just passed that. When they enroll it, then we will have further updates on that,” Spicer said of the legislation, adding, “I believe we have a statement of administration policy on that bill out, and when we have further updates on a signing ceremony, I will let you know.”
The protections affected by the bill were adopted by the FCC last October and were set to take effect at the end of this year. Republican FCC commissioners opposed the regulations, which were supported by online privacy advocates. The bill to eliminate the safeguards passed both the House and Senate on party-line votes.
Yahoo News pressed Spicer and asked whether the White House is concerned that allowing this personal information to be collected and sold could create a risk of the data being used for “nefarious purposes,” including “hostile nations potentially looking at … what congressmen are browsing online.” Spicer repeated that the administration supports the bill and declined to answer further.
“As I mentioned, we have a statement of administration policy on that bill,” said Spicer. “We will have further updates and, when we do sign it, I’m sure we’ll have further details on why.”
Update (March 30, 6:45 p.m.): Spicer began his briefing on Thursday by reading a brief statement elaborating on Trump’s support for the bill. He described the prior protections as “federal overreach” that created an “unfair” regulatory landscape where “edge providers” (companies that provide apps, services, and content online) are treated differently from internet service providers.
“The White House supports Congress using its authority under the Congressional Review Act to roll back last years FCC rules on broadband regulation. The previous administration, in an attempt to treat internet service providers differently than edge providers such as Google and Facebook, reclassified them as common carriers much like a hotel or another retail outlet and opened their door to an unfair regulatory framework,” said Spicer, adding, “This will allow service providers to be treated fairly and constitutional protections and privacy concerns to be reviewed on an equal playing field.”
Spicer further framed the bill as in keeping with Trump’s desire to eliminate “red tape” and keep the government from “picking winners and losers.”
“The president has signed more legislation under the Congressional Review Act ending job killing rules and regulation than all previous presidents combined already and he will continue to fight Washington red tape that stifles American job creation and economic growth,” said Spicer.
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