Republican Rep. Ted Poe Pushes for Opt-in Privacy Regime

Texas Republican Rep. Ted Poe is circulating a resolution in support of internet privacy, including requiring opt-in sharing of user info.

HR 1039, the Support Privacy on the Internet Resolution, encourages edge providers and ISPs alike to include data protection in their privacy policies.

Related: GOP Sens. Press Google on G-Mail Data Sharing

A resolution has no force of law, but is meant to be a prod to action.

“In recent months, the American people have stood by as our privacy is whittled away in the digital frontier, said Poe. “With a single click, the terms and conditions that we speedily read over strip away the right to privacy; privacy that is often assumed to be protected. Americans must be given the ability to 'opt-in' rather than 'opt-out' of data sharing practices by private companies. Internet companies and data service providers should adjust their policies to reflect this renewed sense of urgency for privacy and data protections." 

The resolution comes as Congress is taking a hard look at edge provider privacy in particular, driven in part by Facebook's sharing of user data with Cambridge Analytica.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.