Zuckerberg Grilled by Same Lawmakers Who Repealed Online Privacy Protections

[tulc]

Zuckerberg Grilled by Same Lawmakers Who Repealed Online Privacy Protections

This time last year, Republicans in Congress were rushing to pass legislation repealing the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) online privacy protections that prevented internet service providers like AT&T and Comcast from harvesting and selling internet personal data without explicit permission from their customers.

The move was deeply unpopular, but the GOP reportedly hoped voters would be distracted by the controversy surrounding the attempted repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Democrats were united against the legislation, and President Trump quietly signed it into law.

Just one year later, many of the same lawmakers who voted to repeal the privacy rules were eager to grill Mark Zuckerberg about Facebook's high-profile privacy problems as the embattled CEO testified before Congress this week. Zuckerberg has built an empire on data gathered from Facebook users and used to sell targeted ads -- and the scandals are piling up.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican who introduced the legislation in the House that repealed the FCC privacy rules, told Zuckerberg that Facebook was "beginning to look like The Truman Show."

"My constituents in Tennessee want to know that they have a right to privacy," Blackburn told Zuckerberg during a marathon hearing held by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday.

If Blackburn is so concerned about privacy, then why did she push to repeal some of the only online privacy protections on the federal books?

Critics point to Blackburn's campaign finance records, which show that telecom companies subject to the FCC rules she helped throw out are some of her top donors. The answer also lies in an increasingly partisan debate over net neutrality and how the government should regulate competing companies that create and shape the web.

tulc(thought this was interesting)

 

[TuxAme]

The article doesn't even pretend to be non-partisan.
(that's the best smiley I got)

 

[tulc]

The article doesn't even pretend to be non-partisan.
(that's the best smiley I got)

That's why I posted it in "general politics" and not "current news and events" it's an op-ed not a news article. It's not meant to be non-partisan.
tulc(wonders if TuxAme tried clicking the emoji button in the control panel above the reply to thread box for other smilies?)

 

[TuxAme]

That's why I posted it in "general politics" and not "current news and events" it's an op-ed not a news article. It's not meant to be non-partisan.
tulc(wonders if TuxAme tried clicking on the emoji button on the control panel above the reply to thread box for other smilies?)

I did- that's the only one with big eyes (that aren't lookin' like this )

 

[Hank77]

The article doesn't even pretend to be non-partisan.
(that's the best smiley I got)

True, but...
If it's accurate, it's just facts and facts aren't partisan even when they are written with political bias.
Do you think the info. is accurate?

 

[TuxAme]

True, but...
If it's accurate, it's just facts and facts aren't partisan even when they are written with political bias.
Do you think the info. is accurate?

That's a pretty big "if".

I'm curious, though- do the online privacy protections these lawmakers repealed even apply to this situation? Or are they totally unrelated, and this article is just a hit piece?

 

[Hank77]

That's a pretty big "if".

I'm curious, though- do the online privacy protections these lawmakers repealed even apply to this situation? Or are they totally unrelated, and this article is just a hit piece?

Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) online privacy protections that prevented internet service providers like AT&T and Comcast from harvesting and selling internet personal data without explicit permission from their customers.
.....
Zuckerberg has built an empire on data gathered from Facebook users and used to sell targeted ads
.....
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican who introduced the legislation in the House that repealed the FCC privacy rules, told Zuckerberg that Facebook was "beginning to look like The Truman Show."

Assuming that this information is accurate, which I think it is, do you think is it related? Could the FCC online privacy protections have kept Zuckerberg from using Facebook user's information, without their permission, to sell ads? Probably not, but the point is that the same people who thought customers of big communications companies didn't need protection from data collection are now all upset at Zuckerberg for doing just that.

 

[tulc]

I did- that's the only one with big eyes (that aren't lookin' like this )

what about these ones:

tulc(likes that middle one a lot)