WASHINGTON, D.C. (KELO AM) South Dakota U.S. Senators John Thune (R) and Mike Rounds (R) are defending their votes allowing Internet Service Providers to sell their customers browsing history.
The Congressional resolution essentially nullifies FCC regulations that required ISP's to get customer permission first. But those Obama-era regulations have never been in effect, anyway.
Senator Thune calls the FCC proposal flawed because it would have applied to some but not all companies handling online data.
“As technology changes, we have to keep looking at how to best protect online consumer privacy under one, consistently enforced standard".
Senator Rounds says the FCC needs to start from scratch.
"They need to go back to the drawing board on these regulations and to a more evidence based approach, something like how the FTC has historically regulated the market on privacy issues."
The South Dakota Democratic Party is blasting Thune, Rounds and U.S. Representative Kristi Noem (R) for voting to approve the legislation, claiming it may have something to do with the large campaign contributions they receive from the telecommunications industry.
Republican sponsors of the legislation insist the FCC plan was unnecesary and an example of government overreach.
But conservative callers to KELO Radio's Greg Belfrage Show Friday morning were dead set against ISP's being able to make money off their online browsing.
"It just seems like a huge invasion of privacy and I'm with you. I'm shocked that I'm on the side of the Democrats and the ACLU," one caller complained to Belfrage.