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TECHNOLOGY Monday 3 april 2017

AP Explains: What the death of broadband privacy rules means

TALI ARBEL ers of the privacy rules also
AP Technology Writer point out that in many mar-
NEW YORK (AP) — Now kets consumer choices are
that both houses of Con- limited when it comes to
gress have voted to block home broadband, so you
Obama-era broadband often can’t just switch pro-
privacy rules , what does viders if you don’t like their
that mean for you? privacy policies.
In the short term, not so ___
much. The rules, which DOES MY STATE HAVE MY
would have put tough re- BACK?
strictions on what compa- Maybe. Many state laws
nies like Comcast, Verizon bar unfair or deceptive
and AT&T can do with in- practices, which they
formation such as your in- can use against privacy
ternet history, hadn’t yet violations. Other state and
gone into effect. So if Presi- federal regulations aim
dent Donald Trump signs to protect medical and fi-
the measure, as the White nancial records, but may
House has indicated he not apply to internet ser-
will , the status quo will re- vice providers. Only a few
main. states regulate specific
But the absence of clear practices by broadband
privacy rules means that This June 19, 2015, file photo, shows the Federal Communications Commission building in Wash- providers, according to
the companies supplying ington. the National Conference
your internet service — Associated Press of State Legislatures, which
and who can see a great tracks state laws. Minne-
deal of what you do with rules, Comcast and its ilk information had been private network , which sota, for instance, requires
it — can continue to mine would have needed your hacked. funnels your internet traf- internet service providers
that information for use in permission before offering ___ fic through a secure con- to get customer permission
their own advertising busi- marketers a wealth of infor- CAN YOU STOP PROVIDERS nection that your provider before sharing their web-
nesses. And consumer mation about you, includ- FROM COLLECTING YOUR can’t see into. But good browsing histories.
advocates worry that the ing health and financial DATA? VPNs aren’t free, you have The vast majority of states
companies will be an en- details, your geographic Yes, but it’s not easy. Broad- to figure out which ones do require business and
ticing target for hackers. location and lists of web- band providers today let you can trust, and unless government to tell their
Here’s how that could play sites you’ve visited and you “opt out” of using their you go to the trouble of set- residents when their infor-
out and what it means. apps you’ve used. data, although figuring out ting one up on your home mation has been hacked,
___ Republicans and industry how to do that can be dif- router — not a straightfor- according to the NCSL,
WHAT CHANGES NOW officials complained that ficult. ward task — you would but they have different
Not much, at least immedi- the browsing and app his- Instead, the digital rights need to set them up on approaches. At least 13
ately. For now, phone and tory restrictions would have group Electronic Frontier every phone, tablet and states require businesses to
cable companies remain unfairly burdened internet Foundation suggests you computer in your home. have reasonable security
subject to federal law that providers, since other com- might pay to use a virtual The EFF and other support- practices.q
imposes on broadband panies such as Google
providers a “duty to pro- and Facebook don’t have
tect the confidentiality” of to abide by them. Hacked New York Post app
customer information and That’s important because
restricts them from using the biggest broadband sends out ‘Heil President’ alert
some customer data with- companies want to build
out “approval.” ad businesses to rival those
But it doesn’t spell out how tech giants. This rule would NEW YORK (AP) — The New alert: “Our push alert notifi- all those you fear and look
companies must get per- have made that more dif- York Post app has been cation system was compro- down upon.”
mission, how they must pro- ficult. hacked on April Fools’ Day, mised this evening. We are The alerts even included
tect your data, or whether These rules also required sending out push alert noti- working to resolve the issue. lyrics from Nirvana’s song
and how they have to tell broadband providers to fications that included “Heil Please accept our apolo- “Come As You Are”: “Take
you if it’s been hacked. take reasonable measures President Donald Trump.” gies.” your time, hurry up, the
___ to protect customer infor- The Post apologized Sat- The messages appeared choice is yours, but dont be
WHAT THE RULES WOULD mation, although those urday night, shortly after directed at Trump. One late...”
HAVE CHANGED weren’t spelled out. They its app sent out a series of message said, “Open your The Post is owned by Trump-
Under the Federal Com- also required these com- alerts. heart to those you do not friendly media mogul Ru-
munications Commission’s panies to tell you if your The Post said in a follow-up understand and listen to pert Murdoch.q