NEW YORK: Now that both houses of Congress have voted to block Obama-era broadband privacy rules , what does that mean for you?In the short term, not so much. The rules, which would have put tough restrictions on what companies like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T can do with information such as your internet history, hadn't yet gone into effect. For now, phone and cable companies remain subject to federal law that imposes on broadband providers a "duty to protect the confidentiality'' of customer information and restricts them from using some customer data without "approval. This rule would have made that more difficult.These rules also required broadband providers to take reasonable measures to protect customer information, although those weren't spelled out. Many state laws bar unfair or deceptive practices, which they can use against privacy violations.

Source: Economic Times March 29, 2017 06:56 UTC