With Facebook on the ropes, Internet providers seek to press their advantage in Washington - The Washington Post

A timely reminder: even though you pay (your ISP and wireless service provider), you're often still "the product"

"AT&T's $85 billion merger with Time Warner aims directly at Silicon Valley's dominance in that sector. If AT&T can own and analyze the viewing data generated by the millions of Americans who watch CNN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and other video content, the telecom company could become a targeted advertising behemoth big enough to tackle Facebook and Google, Stephenson has said. Beyond AT&T's interest in TV viewing data, the company has pushed for more leeway to mine its Internet customers' Web browsing history for advertising purposes.

Not to be left out, Verizon has also made inroads in digital advertising, buying up AOL and Yahoo in 2015 and 2017 with an eye toward serving targeted ads to Yahoo's millions of visitors. To protect their growing data businesses, Verizon and other broadband providers have argued against tighter privacy restrictions for telecoms on the use of customer data, particularly when their counterparts in the tech industry — which the FCC does not regulate — operate under looser rules."

With Facebook on the ropes, Internet providers seek to press their advantage in Washington - The Washington Post