Congress Moves to Strike Internet Privacy Rules From Obama Era -<br />By CECILIA KANGMARCH 23, 2017<br />WASHINGTON — Republican senators moved Thursday to dismantle landmark internet privacy protections for consumers in the first decisive strike against telecommunications<br />and technology regulations created during the Obama administration, and a harbinger of further deregulation.<br />Under the internet privacy rules that Mr. Wheeler passed, apart from broadband providers having to ask permission to track browsing<br />and other online activities of a user, the companies were also required to use “reasonable measures” to secure consumer data against hackers.<br />That’s not a lot to ask.”<br />The privacy rules were created in October by the Federal Communications Commission, and the brisk action of Congressional Republicans, just two months into Mr. Trump’s administration, foreshadowed a broader rollback of tech and telecom policies<br />that have drawn the ire of conservative lawmakers and companies like AT&T, Verizon and Charter.<br />rules that deny consumers consistent privacy protection online<br />and violate competitive neutrality,” the cable industry lobby group, NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, said in a statement on Thursday.<br />That move acknowledged the importance of the internet for communications, education, work<br />and commerce and the need to protect online users, Mr. Wheeler had said.
