On Saturday, (April Fools’ Day) I read an article about how Congress just passed a bill that allows Internet providers the right to sell your personal browsing history. I wondered if it was just a bad joke. I did some investigating and found out that it was true.

Did you know that your private Internet browsing history is now for sale? On Tuesday, March 28, the House of Representatives in Washington voted 215 to 205 to allow your Internet provider the right to sell your browsing history to any advertisers. The Senate voting on straight party lines a week before to eliminate all privacy laws. In Michigan, both Democratic Senators voted to keep your privacy secure. However in the House of Representatives all Michigan Republican Representatives except Congressman Amash voted to eliminate your Internet privacy. All Democrats voted against the bill. Our Congressman, Jack Bergman, voted with his fellow Republicans to not protect your personal browsing history. If President Trump signs this bill there will be no government agency to secure your privacy.

Currently, Internet providers must obtain approval from its customers to sell Internet browsing history, but this bill will end all privacy protection. Do you think advertisers really need to know what personal hygiene products you use, or what color underwear you’ve searched for on the Internet?

It seems that our political parties have reached an impasse on everything. I searched for a word to describe this phenomenon and couldn’t find one in my thesaurus. Maybe the words jingoism or xenophobia could best describe the attitude one party displays toward the other. American citizens should not be for sale to the highest bidder. After all slavery was abolished in 1866.

Mark English

Rogers City