By Judah Breitbach
“It [Congressional Bill 215-205] is
the first step to dismantling net neutrality,” said Jeremy Johnson, former Marine computer programmer, IT professional and PC alum.
Certainly the current issue is that that bill allows Internet Service Providers, ISP’s, to consolidate and sell customer’s search info. With the convenient caveat that legislators are exempt. Johnson said the new bill is similar to a beefed up version of tracking cookies, a method of tracking your device’s browsing history to better target that devices pop-up ads, etcetera.
The new policy bears resemblances to cookies in that each tracks your personal data. The difference, and it’s a big difference to Johnson, is that cookies stay on their own site, ready to adjust ads and article suggestions for the next time you visit. The new ISP data sharing policy allows the selling of that information to other parties. Johnson believes this pales in comparison to new Federal Communications Commission, FCC, Ajit Pai promising the FCC will work towards the deregulation of net neutrality. What does this mean for the consumer? Both in the regard of the new cookies on steroids, as it were, as well as the possible death of net neutrality?
The broadest sense of the virtue of net neutrality is that it prevents a single company’s monopolous grasp on the broadband service to the consumer.
If service were to become monopolized by the few, or possibly even the one, the process would drive broadband width down and prices up, making the use of broadband, now considered an essential utility, on a level with water and heat, unaffordable and untenable at best. Essentially creating a fast track for the customer with a larger wallet.
“Give me one good reason why Com- cast should know what my mother’s medical problems are?” exclaimed Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., in a session of the U.S. House of Representatives. “You know how they’d know? I searched it on the ‘net.”Don’t get your proverbial panties in a twist. Johnson says medical history wouldn’t be available. At least not on this bill. But Johnson recommends that you find a good Virtual Private Net- work, VPN, to install, as well as most if not all of your browsing on private. After all, you wouldn’t want that porn search available to the public. Just keep telling yourself it only happened once.