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Report: The FCC Drives a Stake Through the Heart of the $77 Billion Online Ad Business

Oct 28, 2016  •  Post A Comment

The Federal Communications Commission “drove a stake through the heart of the $77 billion online ad business” with a ruling Thursday that bars Comcast, Verizon and other Internet service providers from automatically tracking the Web-surfing activity of consumers, The New York Post reports.

“The regulator, in a 3-to-2 vote that increased internet privacy, ruled consumers have to give their OK before their online search history and other sensitive information is tracked and sold to advertisers,” the story reports. “The new rule takes effect immediately.”

The report adds: “The move threatens so-called targeted advertising, which is one of the main strategic benefits given by AT&T for acquiring Time Warner.

“The change also frustrates Verizon’s efforts to dominate the mobile ad arena via its AOL unit and its planned acquisition of Yahoo.”

The report notes that Facebook and Google are not affected by the new rule. “First, they are not regulated by the FCC, and second, users must sign in and that process contains an opt-in clause,” The Post reports.

fcc-federal communications commission

4 Comments

  1. Well it’s about damn time!!

  2. Easy enough; they can put up a onetime redirect that states you either accept tracking or we cancel your service with no penalty.

    It’s your choice: accept tracking or enjoy trying to find a new ISP.

    • Seems to be on the safe side you need to sign up or a VPN base in a country with good privacy laws and then all your ISP could tell anyone is that you are using a VPN.

  3. This does nothing to curb Google, Amazon, Facebook or any of the other sites from collecting your data, and use it without your permission. Do not think that leaving these entities out, is a win for consumer privacy.

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