Democrats eye up Bill of Rights for the Internet

With Silicon Valley seemingly not doing enough to empower the consumer in the digital era, Congressman Ro Khanna is working on new proposals to more tightly regulate the technology industry.

Congressman Khanna, the Democratic representative of California is suggest a new Bill of Rights for the Internet, which would provide more rights for the consumer in controlling how personal information is collected, transferred and utilised. The aim here is simple; pull the balance of power over to the side of the consumer.

While this does sound like a logical idea, the technology industry has largely slipped through the legislative grey areas for years, before such proposals could even be considered the Democrats would have to win the November mid-term elections.

The idea for the Bill would focus on the following principles. Individuals should have the right:

1. To have access to and knowledge of all collection and uses of personal data by companies;
2. To opt-in consent to the collection of personal data by any party and to the sharing of personal data with a third party;
3. Where context appropriate and with a fair process, to obtain, correct or delete personal data controlled by any company and to have those requests honoured by third parties;
4. To have personal data secured and to be notified in a timely manner when a security breach or unauthorized access of personal data is discovered;
5. To move all personal data from one network to the next;
6. To access and use the internet without internet service providers blocking, throttling, engaging in paid prioritization or otherwise unfairly favouring content, applications, services or devices;
7. To internet service without the collection of data that is unnecessary for providing the requested service absent opt-in consent;
8. To have access to multiple viable, affordable internet platforms, services and providers with clear and transparent pricing;
9. Not to be unfairly discriminated against or exploited based on your personal data; and
10. To have an entity that collects your personal data have reasonable business practices and accountability to protect your privacy.

Of course, many of these principles are ideas which should have been implemented before the internet ball got rolling. Now it is travelling at such a speed it might be difficult. Another factor to consider is the power of the internet giants. These are massive organizations, with heavy-hitting financial punches and an influential lobby. They won’t like the idea of such principles being written into law, so expect some notable resistance.

But first, to even consider such proposals, the Democrats would have to win the mid-term elections. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election, though 147 and 182 seats are considered safe for the Republicans and Democrats respectively. A further 51 will probably be won by the Republicans and 10 by the Democrats. The interesting battles are the ones which could go either way; 42 of these are currently held by the Republicans and 3 by the Democrats. A majority here has been set as a target, though to pass any new legislation, the Democrats would also have to win the Senate over.

In the Senate, 35 out of the 100 seats are being contested. Three of the contested seats are considered safe for the Republicans and 14 for the Democrats. 2 will probably be held by the Republicans and 8 probably held by the Democrats. 8 seats, four of which are held by either party, could go either way. Here it still looks like the Republicans will maintain control, dampening the potential for any new technology regulations.

The internet giants should have more regulations dictating the field of play, though with the current political landscape it does look like that will be difficult. Even if the Democrats win in the House, a scenario which some believe to be realistic, a Republican Senate will mean gridlock for future legislation.