Kennedy reasoned that internet service providers (ISPs) in New York must abide by state laws since they are regulated there as a public utility.
"When voters across the country elected this House and US Senate last November, I doubt they were voting with the hope that their ISP would be allowed to sell their browsing history," Kennedy said in a statement.
"This kind of anti-consumer, anti-privacy action doesn’t benefit anyone except large corporations. This is not an abstract threat to regular folks – this is bad policy with real world consequences. The legislation I have introduced will ensure these actions never make it to New York State."
Under Trump’s new measure, which he signed Monday, ISPs no longer have to ask their customers’ permission to sell data that may contain private information like medical and financial information, geolocation and browsing history.
This information could be sold to large corporations to generate targeted advertising, but it could potentially also be obtained by government agencies to conduct surveillance on citizens.
Privacy advocate Tim Karr recently told Radio Sputnik that this sensitive information is "being collected by these companies that are massively profitable … at the expense of the rights of ordinary citizens."
Other states, controlled by both Democrats and Republicans, have begun to draft their own legislation to protect the privacy of their constituents. The Montana Senate approved a budget provision on Monday barring internet companies from obtaining state contracts if they don’t ask permission to collect customer data.
Similar legislation is making its way through the Minnesota legislature as well.
"It has become apparent to us that they have the ability to use your information in ways to market to you, and, quite frankly, sell that information," said Montana Sen. Ryan Osmundson (R-Buffalo) of ISPs. "We’re basically saying they cannot do business with the state if they’re collecting personal information without the consent of the individual."
There are two privacy bills being considered in Illinois – one that would require device applications to ask permission before tracking a user’s location, and another that would allow internet users to see what information broadband companies are collecting from them and who they are sharing it with.
Open internet advocate Dallas Harris, a policy fellow with Public Knowledge, predicted more states would attempt to pass privacy laws to provide the kind of protection that Congress wouldn’t.
He said, "Internet service providers have put themselves in a bit of a conundrum here … They’ve bucked the federal rule, and they’re going to get what they hate the most – a bunch of state laws."
