Here we go, again. The GOP is siding with big business instead of US residents. It’s not really a surprise- except for what it does to our lives.
On the 25th of March, the US Senate (S.J. Res 34) approved the ability of the cable and telephone industry to sell information about us to anyone- without our prior approval. With a monumental margin- 50 (all GOP) to 48 (all Democrats). And, if you agree with me, that what I do and when I do it is MY business, then you should be calling your congressman NOW to stop them from voting the same way the Senate did.
Up to now, our providers have been prevented from selling out data. For 20 years. (No, this is not some Obama-era “communist plot” [another GOP lie] against business.) It is part of Section 222 of the Telecommunications Act. This section stipulates that when we use the phone, TV, or internet, there is no workable alternative to keeping our information from being collected by the providers.
And, if this new proposal (H.J. Res 86) passes, Comcast, Time Warner, Dish, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, among others will be selling what TV shows we watch (and when), what programs we DVR, what internet sites we visit, what queries we make on the web, who we call- all that will be sold to advertisers to bombard us with junk. Or, to tweak the facts of what they sell to convince us that they have exactly what we want.
These two “joint” efforts are being led by Tennessee politicians. Lamar Alexander in the Senate and Marsha Blackburn in the House.
And, you know, once this law passes both the House and the Senate (don’t even suggest to me that the Donald won’t sign it), the providers will become even more aggressive in their data collection.
Because your data and mine becomes the method by which they can make more money. Besides the fees they already charge us for the privilege of being tracked by them.
Oh, sure, the GOP is claiming that the FCC (Federal Communications Committee) has been overreaching, so it’s their requirement to fix the problem. Except when the bill passed 20 years ago, the verbiage employed to protect your rights and mine was so clear, only a moron would miss its intent. (If the shoe fits…)
Here’s what the Senate Commerce Committee said about the law they were passing two decades ago: “In general, a Bell company may not share with anyone customer-specific proprietary information without the consent of the person to whom it relates. Exceptions to this general rule permit disclosure in response to a court order or to initiate, render, bill and collect for telecommunications services.”
Not to be outdone, the House Commerce Committee in its report on the bill said: “This section defines three fundamental principles to protect all consumers. These principles are: (1) the right of consumers to know the specific information that is being collected about them; (2) the right of consumers to have proper notice that such information is being used for other purposes; and (3) the right of consumers to stop the reuse or sale of that information.”
You’ve read the intent. That intent is exactly what the FCC has been using as its guidelines. In October 2016 (mostly because the commission has been stymied by the same partisan wrangling that existed in Congress), the FCC stipulated that consumer consent would be required for the collection of location services, financial information (where and how we bank, what we buy, what credit vehicles we use), health information, children’s information, and web browsing history. Because you know once it’s collected, it will be sold.
But, given the desire of the GOP to repeal anything that protects the environment, protects the consumer, and keeps our privacy rights since it got the reigns of power in the Executive, the House, and the Senate, the business lobbyists have been greasing their palms with more money to reverse rules, claiming they harm business. (Harming people- too bad.)
The GOP claims that Facebook, Twitter, and Google can harvest such data, so why can’t our providers. Well, let’s think about this. Some of us don’t have location services turned on- so these three folks can’t get that data. But, our telecom providers know exactly where they are providing services to us. Some of us use incognito modes or multiple personas if we elect to search on Google. That can’t be done when we are being monitored by our providers. Some of us deliberately make all payments via PayPal, so our credit card or banking information is withheld from sellers or Google; but our phone and internet providers see it all.
Don’t think this is the only step in this battle. One many of us haven’t considered to be violations of our privacy- because we just don’t consider the big picture sometimes. Right now, Big Banks are also fighting over the way we can use our financial programs like QuickBooks, Xero, Mint, and Betterment. You see, every time Big Banks let us connect our banking and credit data to these accounting programs, they lose control of our data. Now, other folks will know what kind of loans and investment products we may need.
You see Big Banks and the online financial management firms all collect our data. Which they use to sell us stuff. (OK. At least one of the Big Banks didn’t even bother to ask us if we wanted to buy their stuff. They just sold it to us by agreeing with themselves. Until the world found out that is what Wells Fargo was doing.)
Our data is too valuable to us to let this happen. But, it’s also too valuable to corporations for them not to try to find ways to acquire it. Because they want to know what products can be marketed to whom and at what prices. And, when corporations have more of that data, they have more leverage in setting the prices and provisions whereby we buy cars, homes, insurance, etc. That’s the tension.
In Europe, the rules are clear. People- NOT companies- own their digital records, their account data. But, with the GOP desire to emasculate (or that great word- REPEAL) Dodd-Frank, our financial records and data will become, once again, the property of the banks and not us. (This is another reason why the GOP wants to destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It is preparing rules to make our records our own.)
Oh, you’ve got to love the chicanery behind the legislative action. Because the Senate bill that barely passed and the House bill are titled “Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services”. Because stripping away all our privacy rights is just the way to protect them!
What are you waiting for? Make the call to your Congressman NOW, before the vote.
The Roster of Your Congressman and His/Her Phone Number
It’s going to be an uphill battle. But it can be done. What matters now is making people care.
Alana recently posted..The Best Harvest Ever
Absolutely correct. We need to have folks understand what is at stake- all the time. So they react upon the encroachment – or repudiation- of their rights.