From Lobbyist to Advocate: An Interview with F.C.C. Chairman Tom Wheeler

On Friday, I sat down with Tom Wheeler, the head of the F.C.C, to talk about his new proposal to give people more control over their privacy online. If the idea is formally approved, Americans will be able to stop their Internet service providers—the companies, such as Comcast and Verizon, that provide the infrastructure over which the Internet flows—from giving information about their browsing habits to advertisers. The history of the Internet is one of the persistent loss of privacy, and the F.C.C.’s plan provides for a momentary reversal. Not surprisingly, the proposal is controversial; critics suggest that Wheeler may have overstepped the F.C.C.’s authority, and they add that the new rules do nothing to regulate Web sites, like Google and Facebook, that also have intimate data about what we do online. “This really is a power grab,” James Cicconi, a senior executive vice-president at A.T. & T., told me.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

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