Worldwide web inventor slams GOP's 'disgusting' bill to let ISPs sell users' browser histories

Tim Berners-Lee, the famed computer scientist who created the worldwide web in 1989, feels "disgusted" by the recent law signed into law by President Donald Trump that allows internet service providers to sell their customers' browsing histories to advertisers.

In an interview with the Guardian, Berners-Lee said that user privacy shouldn't be a partisan issue, and he was amazed that the Republican Party could pass such a bill in the face of public opposition.

"That bill was a disgusting bill, because when we use the web, we are so vulnerable," Berners-Lee said. "Privacy, a core American value, is not a partisan thing. Democrats fight for it and Republicans fight for it, too, maybe even more. So I am very shocked that the Republican party has managed to suggest that it should be trashed; if anyone follows up on this direction there will be a massive pushback – and there must be a massive pushback!"

Berners-Lee also predicted there would be a massive public backlash if the Federal Communications Commission moved to rip apart net neutrality regulations that were adopted under the Obama administration.

"If they take away net neutrality, there will have to be a tremendous amount of public debate as well," he said. "You can bet there will be public demonstrations if they do try to take it away."