In a recent poll of more than 1,200 Americans, 92 percent agreed that Internet providers should not be allowed to monitor their activity online and sell that data to third parties without consent – a strong indictment of Senate Joint Resolution 34, which lifted FCC restrictions that would have prevented ISPs from engaging in this practice.
The poll, presented by Comparitech, a self-described pro-consumer website, was conducted after Congress passed the resolution in late March, but before President Donald Trump signed it into law on April 3.
Although respondents were overwhelmingly against ISPs selling their data without permission, more than half of survey respondents admitted that they weren't even aware of the bill, which was approved largely along partisan lines, with Republicans in favor of the legislation.
Based on the poll data, some Americans may take action in response to the law, if they make good on their survey responses. For instance, close to 1,000 respondents – nearly 80 percent – said they would be dissuaded from voting for their senators or congressmen in the future if they voted for the bill.
Moreover, 60 percent of survey-takers said they would change their browsing habits in light of the resolution, while more than 80 percent said they would switch to a new ISP if their current one shared information about them without consent. Almost three out of five respondents said that they would pay for a VPN subscription in order to keep their data private.
