From Rep. Nicole Macri, 43rd District
Donald Trump signed into law last month a bill that strips you of your ability stop internet service providers (ISP) from selling your private browsing information.
This means if you’ve ever typed your Social Security into an online form, your ISP could collect it and sell it according to congressional experts.
I think that is wrong, and I have heard from many constituents about their concerns about this change in federal policy. The internet has become ubiquitous and it is increasingly difficult to conduct our lives without entering personal information on the internet. ISPs should not be allowed to sell your personal information without your permission.
That is why I joined 73 of my colleagues (a supermajority of the House) to introduce HB 2200.
Our bill would create new internet privacy protections enforceable under the Washington Consumer Protection Act, including:
- Compelling transparency by making ISP privacy policies available to customers so they know what to expect.
- Protecting privacy by prohibiting ISPs from selling or using private information (such as a person’s browsing history) without consent.
- Requiring ISPs to report to customers when they have been hacked and personal data has been breached so customers can protect themselves.
Consumers should have the option to keep their personal browser history private.
This is an important consumer protection measure that enjoys wide bipartisan support, and I look forward to seeing it land on the governor’s desk for his signature.
Thank you,
Nicole Macri
Well, if you enter your social security number or any other information and it’s on a secured https site, you’re isp can’t see that info. Js
Thank you for stepping up to protect privacy, but please stop saying that your ISP can now sell your SSN. The rule that House Republicans rolled back was only just recently promulgated, and hardly had time to take effect, so it is not a watershed change. More importantly, federal and state wiretapping laws already prohibit this If you type your SSN into your browser, that is the content of communications, and it would violate existing federal criminal law to disclose it except in narrow circumstances (like if the government got a warrant or the ISP obtained express consent). It would also give rise to a ton of civil liability.
What the Republicans did was wrong, but this is disinformation is wrong too. Pass privacy protections on their own merits, not by pretending illegal behavior is now legal.