Tim Berners-Lee says the Trump repeal of privacy rules shows an appalling attitude

Donald Trump repealed an Obama era regulation that required internet service providers to take the consent of users before using browser history, web searches, geolocation data and other personal information for advertising and marketing purposes. The repeal was a blow to privacy advocates, but the internet service providers had a reason to celebrate. The proposed regulations required service providers to take more pro-active efforts at protecting privacy of users than web services such as Facebook or Google. In an interview with The Guardian, Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, responded to the move by Trump. “It’s not the case that an ISP can just spy on people and monetise the data; if they do, they will get taken to court. Obviously the worry is the attitude and the direction. The attitude is really appalling. That bill was a disgusting bill, because when we use the web, we are so vulnerable,” Berners-Lee said, going on to add that “Privacy, a core American value, is not a partisan thing.” The discussion around the repeal raises ethical questions on how internet service providers are responsible for protecting the interests of their users. While web services such as Facebook or Google can use beacons in remote web sites, and form networks where data of individual users is shared for marketing and advertising purposes, internet service providers have a broader access to all the activity that a user engages in on the internet. An internet service provider has access to all the network activity from a user, and it is possible for the provider to uncover sensitive information even when communications are encrypted. The online activity of a user can potentially be used to guess chronic medical conditions or financial problems. As the proposed regulations never went into effect, there are currently no rules for service providers in the US on how the data they collect can be used. If the regulations would have come into effect, the service providers would have been obliged to explicitly reveal to the consumers what kind of information is being collected, how the information is being used, and the identities of the third parties the information is being shared with. In addition, there were certain kinds of information that required the service providers to get explicit permissions from the end users, before logging the data. Sensitive information according to the regulations included information on children, health, finances, contents of communication, browser history and geolocation data. While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) still has the power to take action against service providers over misuse of personal information, the end user no longer is in the driver’s seat and making the decisions when it comes to personal data on internet usage. Total control of the data that users generate would mean the ability for users to erase the data logged, if they so choose to. A permanent record of browser history, application activity, combined with geolocation data is a toxic combination of data ripe for abuse if it gets into the wrong hands or malicious entities. The repeal does not actually take away any protections that consumers had, as the regulations never came into effect in the first place. The consumers are exposed and vulnerable as service providers can covertly log their activities, and use it for various purposes without disclosing the sharing of the data to the users concerned. The regulations would have allowed an end user to take responsibility for their own personal data, a responsibility that is now in the hands of the service providers.