FCC Cares About Privacy, But ISPs Shouldn't Face Unique Rules, O'Rielly Says
Contrary to what many Americans believe, the FCC and Congress don’t wish to harm their internet privacy, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in a Friday blog post in National Review. “These untrue accusations have generated borderline hysteria, to the point where,…
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as an FCC commissioner, I was grilled by two friends on the topic at a recent wedding,” O’Rielly wrote. “To counter this misinformation, it’s important to understand how data is currently used in the Internet economy, which federal agencies oversee Internet privacy, and the effect of legislation recently enacted by Congress.” The “simple truth” is that data is critical to the internet economy and that's true for more than ISPs, O’Rielly said. “The heart and soul of today’s Internet economy is the collection of data, mainly for use in targeted advertising,” he said. “From commercial companies to political campaigns, advertising dollars are increasingly being spent on the web, rather than on traditional media. Jeopardize this arrangement and a vast number of free Internet features and functions will evaporate in short order.” Congress and the FCC want to ensure ISPs and companies like Google face the same rules, he said. “The disparate treatment of broadband providers as compared with all other Internet companies is important, and it helps explain the recent legislative activity (but not the attendant uproar).”