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Federal regulators plan to reverse an Obama-era rule that prevented major television-station owners from buying stations or readily selling themselves, a move that could touch off a wave of deals among media companies.

Companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon now can sift through your personal information, your web-browsing history, where and when you access the internet and what you do while online, and peddle that private data to whomever is willing to pay.

Your internet service provider could deploy hidden tracking cookies on your phone.

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a statement suggesting he will not reverse his Feb. 3 decision to revoke the Lifeline Broadband Provider status of nine internet service providers.

House Republicans showed Tuesday they care as little about your online privacy as their colleagues in the Senate.

Critics of the move said it would have a “chilling effect” on online privacy.

One critic of the repeal, Craig Aaron, president of Free Press, said major Silicon Valley companies shied away from the fight over the rules because they profit from consumer data.

The House and Senate have approved a resolution that removes landmark privacy rules drafted by the FCC in 2016. Your internet service provider will no longer need your permission to sell information about what websites you visit, the apps you use or where you use them.

Sinclair Broadcast Group lined up a Republican regulator for a company conference in Baltimore’s Four Seasons hotel days after the Nov. 8 election.
Ajit Pai’s trip turned out to be a coup when Donald Trump’s surprise election win put Republicans in charge of the FCC.

Legislators and activists may be raising alarm about attacks on Net Neutrality, but the tech industry has been conspicuously silent.