A group of seven Internet companies is trying to defend their users' privacy, as this week the Parliament of the United States Representatives is revising the Act USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act for 2020.
Mozilla, Engine, Reddit, Reform Government Surveillance, Twitter, i2Coalition and Patreon have asked four US lawmakers to explicitly ban the permission συλλογή του ιστορικού αναζήτησης και περιήγησης στο Διαnetwork.
"We hope that lawmakers will amend the bill to limit government access to our Internet browsing and search history without a warrant," Mozilla said in a post. in the blog.
“Search and browsing history is still collected and stored on the web. We believe that this data deserves a strong legal case protection when the government seeks to access them, but in many cases that protection is uncertain.”
In a letter [PDF] to the four members of the US House of Representatives, the group said that privacy and security are essential for the economy, business and the continued development of a free and open internet.
"Congress can help maintain user trust and facilitate continued use of the Internet as a strong contribution to our recovery," the team said.
The companies said that search and browsing history can provide a detailed privacy portrait of internet users and can reveal very sensitive information such as medical conditions, religious beliefs and personal relationships. Thus it should be protected by effective legal safeguards.
The Senate recently considered an amendment to address the concerns raised by the group in its letter. They stated that the amendment would expressly prohibit the use of Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act for pointless collection of search and browsing history.
"Congress must seize this opportunity to resolve any potential ambiguities and provide strong legal protections for the entire search and browsing history."
