Rep. Marsha Blackburn Touts New Internet Privacy Bill

After Congress rescinds an FCC broadband privacy rule, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) proposes a new bill that enacts “light-touch” regulation on internet privacy.

Blackburn recently introduced the Browser Act, a bill that would require sites to obtain a user’s consent before collecting and selling their information for marketing.

The Tennessee congresswoman told the Washington Examiner,

The way the Browser Act will improve privacy is it gives the individual more tools in their toolbox. One of the biggest questions I get from people is ‘How do I protect myself online?’ I refer to it as the virtual you. What people want to know is that they’re going to have the same protections online that they have in the physical world. They want those protections in the physical space to match up.

Congresswoman Blackburn unveiled the bill after President Donald Trump signed a Congressional Review Act that rescinded the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) broadband privacy rule requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to obtain consent from users before they used consumer data for marketing.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Congresswoman Blackburn believe that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), not the FCC, should regulate internet privacy. Blackburn told Breitbart News, “I think that people should realize that the FTC is the primary regulator of privacy, not the FCC. They have the history and the expertise to regulate consumer privacy, and having more than one agency regulate the same agency creates abuse and government overreach. Businesses need regulatory clarity in order to properly operate.”

FCC Chairman Pai told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that the FTC should be the primary regulator of consumer privacy. He also cautioned that Facebook and Google have greater access to consumer data than ISPs. Pai said:

I think that we need to have protections for consumer information regardless of the regulatory classification and what company holds that information. I think that the only entity that can handle this is the FTC because they have the expertise in this area and the authority we don’t necessarily have and they have the history of enforcement actions to bring with respect to privacy and data security. So, I think stripping the FTC of authority to regulate consumer privacy was the wrong way to go. The second point is that there’s asymmetric regulation here. The FCC adopted very onerous privacy regulations for internet service providers, where in reality it is not internet service providers who have a great insight into consumer activity. For example, if you’re on your cell phone you might go from your Wi-Fi network to your work Wi-Fi network to a coffee shop’s Wi-Fi network and there could four or five ISPs or even more that only capture a part of your identity, whereas some of the edge providers [e.g. Facebook and Google] have a greater insight across many different platforms and can see what you’re doing so we simply want to make sure they have a level playing field on privacy regulations. I would love to work with the chairwoman of the FTC to make sure we do that.

The Browser Act would change how internet companies operate. Facebook and Google can collect and sell users’ browsing history and internet activity for advertising and marketing unless users request to “opt out.” Blackburn said her the Browser Act would create “one set of rules for the entire ecosystem” and level the playing field for internet service providers and content providers such as Facebook and Google.

AT&T cheered Blackburn’s bill, while content providers such as Google and Facebook chided the move.

An AT&T spokesman said, “We have always said consumers expect their online data to be protected by a comprehensive and uniform privacy framework that applies across the entire Internet ecosystem and includes operating systems, browsers, devices, ISPs, apps, online services and advertising networks. We support Chairwoman Blackburn for moving the discussion in that direction, and we look forward to working with her as this legislation moves forward.”

Noah Theran, vice president of public affairs and communications for the Internet Association, criticized the bill in a statement. “This bill has the potential to upend the consumer experience online and stifle innovation,” he said. “Policymakers must recognize the websites and apps continue to be under strict FTC privacy enforcement and are not in an enforcement gap, unlike other stakeholders in the ecosystem.”

Blackburn said that lawmakers could become more involved in consumer privacy, as internet users become more aware of “whose monetized their data and what they are doing with it.”

“They feel the federal government has not exercised their authority over this space,” Blackburn explained. “It’s an interstate commerce issue, and I think you will see us do something, light-touch regulation, and we will be ready to move forward.”