[image-1]You may have noticed this week that Congress voted to allow Internet service providers to sell of your browser history and app usage data to third parties (marketing firms, let's say) without your explicit permission. The bill, SJ Res. 34, reverses an Obama administration rule that protected the ownership of personal Internet data. If you hadn't heard, you know now and you're sure to see your random-ass conservative friend ballyhooing about "Terms of Service" on your Facebook timeline very soon.
But much like we've pointed out with U.S. Sen. Rob Portman's bought-and-paid-for support of Education Secretary Betsy Devos, this telecom bill tracks neatly with massive donations made to federal politicians on behalf of companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon.
So we spent some time with the National Institute on Money in State Politics and determined how much money each Ohio Republican carted down to Washington and no doubt had in mind when voting to slash and burn the last vestiges of Internet privacy.
Below are campaign contributions that came from the last election cycle (2016) from telecom companies and individual employees of telecom companies. (We're referencing only Republicans here because only Republicans voted in favor of this bill.)
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman
$89,350
U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (5th District, Bluffton)
$91,000
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson (6th District, Salem)
$56,500
U.S. Rep. Patrick Tiberi (12th District, Worthington)
$53,250
U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (16th District, Wadsworth)
$48,000
U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers (15th District, Lancaster)
$27,000
U.S. Rep. Steven Chabot (1st District, Cincinnati)
$25,500
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (4th District, Bucyrus)
$24,750
U.S. Rep. David Joyce (14th District, Russell Township)
$16,500
U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup (2nd District, Cincinnati)
$9,400
U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs (7th District, Ashland)
$8,000
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (1oth District, Dayton)
$6,000
The grand total? $455,250. For the price of a low-end home in Gates Mills, all of our Ohio representatives collectively sold off your right to keep your weird Internet history to yourself.
