Faced with an angry citizen asking why he had voted away their online privacy rights, US House Rep Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) had a remarkable answer: you don"t have to use the internet if you don"t like it.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin on Friday, the Republican legislator was asked about his vote to kill off proposed information safeguards – a move that effectively gave American ISPs the green light, as well as the right, to sell subscribers" sensitive personal details without requiring their consent or even having to inform them.
The voter disputed the Republican line that ISPs should not have to deal with stricter rules than companies like Google or Facebook, arguing that: "Facebook is not comparable to an ISP. I do not have to go on Facebook. I don"t have to go on Google. My ISP provider is different than those providers."
Sensenbrenner"s response? "Nobody"s got to use the internet."
Which is strictly true. But only in the same way that nobody has to use the roads. And nobody has to make phone calls. It"s not really a good argument to explain why your representative actively voted away your right to opt out of your personal information being sold, however.
No comments:
Post a Comment