• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, May 11, 2016

Allowing Internet service providers to serve targeted ads to subscribers based on their Web activity, without their permission, would mark a significant "retreat from privacy" as well as a "retreat from what Americans have always expected from their networks," Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler told lawmakers today.

"When I made a phone call to order something, and then got on the mailing list of Hammacher Schlemmer, that was between me and Hammacher Schlemmer," Wheeler said during this afternoon's hearing on privacy. "The network delivered me there without taking my information."

He added that an attempt by ISPs to serve ads to consumers based on their Web activity would represent a significant shift from the historic practices of telephone companies. "It's crucial that we understand that that is a retreat from privacy," Wheeler said near the end of a 90-minute hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.

The hearing centered on the FCC's proposal that broadband providers obtain consumers' opt-in consent before using data about their Web-surfing activity for ad purposes. Consumer advocates support the proposal, while the ad industry, cable companies and telecoms oppose it.

Wheeler argues that the privacy rules are necessary for a few reasons, including that ISPs have far-ranging views into their subscribers' Web use.

Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai disagrees. He says that the proposed rules will give "edge providers" like Google and social networks an advantage over Internet service providers.

"Search engines log every query you enter. Social networks track every person you’ve met. Online video distributors know every show you’ve ever streamed. Online shopping sites record every book, every piece of furniture, and every medical device you browse, let alone purchase," he stated in his prepared testimony. "And yet the FCC only targets one corner of the marketplace."

Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez told lawmakers the agency will weigh in on the FCC proposal. But Ramirez didn't say whether the FTC intends to support those rules.