Friday, March 31, 2017
We’re all just commodities now…
Congratulations everyone!
With a stroke of pen, Congress has just turned all U.S. citizens into commodities to be bought and sold to the highest bidder.
Don’t know what I’m talking about?
Earlier this week, Congress approved a bill that would remove the block, which up until now, had prevented Internet service providers, such as Comcast, Verizon, Time-Warner Cable, and others, from selling their customers’ web browsing and app usage data without their customer’s explicit consent.
This means the company that provides you access to the Internet either at home or over a cellular network that your smart phone or tablet connects to can now access your browsing habits, app usage, location and even Social Security numbers and sell them to anyone they want. And they can do it without getting your permission first!
So how does this affect you?
But this goes beyond just embarrassing medical conditions. It lets ISPs know just about every intimate detail of our lives, because let’s face it, the Internet has become an integral part of our 21st century existence. (Go ahead, I dare anyone to try and live a normal life without using a device connected to the Internet!) The repeal of this bill lets businesses spy on us in our homes in a way Republicans would rail against if government tried to do the same thing!
So what I want to know from those Senators and members of the House of Representatives who voted for this bill is, where is your outrage over this invasion of your constituents’ privacy now?! How is this any different from the government “tapping” our phones or eavesdropping on our other electronic communication? Why are you not apoplectic over this gross infringement of U.S. citizen’s right to privacy?
I know in the Internet Age, we’ve all been giving away our rights to privacy little-by-little, whether it’s us posting personal information on Facebook or other social media sites, or agreeing to let some company monitor our movements through or smart phones so we can use an app to get a discount on some product or service. But at least that’s been our choice!
But what I find most heinous about this decision is that it takes the choice out of our hands. We no longer get to choose what part of our private lives we get to share with others and which parts we get to keep secret. And to add insult to injury, we’re also not getting anything in return for this.
Look if Comcast, Verizon or any other ISP wants to know all this information about me so they can make money off me, then damn it, I want something in return!
I want my high-speed Internet access for free! And forget about imposing data limits on my cell phone bill too! That should be free as well.
So until ISPs are willing to give me something valuable in return for all the data they are collecting from me, then they shouldn’t be able to have my data! If you agree with me, then pick up the phone or email your state’s senators and representatives and let them know you want your rights back now!
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERS
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U.S. SENATE MEMBERS
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