Gutting Of Internet Privacy Regs Renews Interest In VPNs

Congressional approval of a bill that repeals pending internet privacy rules has sparked interest in an old internet technology, virtual private networks, or VPNs, Reuters reports. The bill, which is expected to be signed by President Trump, will allow internet service providers like AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications to sell customers’ browsing history. Critics point out this will enable any party willing to pay for it to obtain strong indicators of such things as a person’s political, financial, health, culinary, sexual, and religious preoccupations. Supporters of the bill say it puts the brakes on on intrusive government regulations and levels the playing field for the internet providers with respect to platforms like Google and Facebook. The VPNs, explain Reuters tech writers Stephen Nellis and David Ingram, “cloak a customer’s web-surfing history by making an encrypted connection to a private server, which then searches the Web on the customer’s behalf without revealing the destination addresses.” This technology, they note, is typically used by businesses who went a secure network, as well as in countries such as China and Turkey by users who want to bypass government restrictions. “Privacy-conscious techies,” they wrote, “are now talking of using VPNs as a matter of course.” The VPNs, the article notes, also have some disadvantages.