Chicago

‘Cards Against Humanity' Creator Threatens to Buy, Publish Lawmakers' Internet Browsing History

Your internet history and browsing habits are for sale, and the House voted Tuesday to keep it that way

Max Temkin, a Chicago-area native and creator of the popular and crass card game “Cards Against Humanity,” tweeted Monday he would buy the browsing history of “every congressman and congressional aide and publish it” if a measure to block online privacy regulation is signed into law.

The measure, which the House voted in favor of on Tuesday, bars the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing rules it passed last year, NBC News reported. The rules were passed during President Barack Obama's administration and would have required broadband providers to get users explicit consent before they could sell their personal data.

The bill now awaits President Donald Trump's signature to be come law.

Temkin later posted on Reddit, garnering thousands of upvotes and comments, a link to a fund for purchasing the internet history of members of congress, saying he would match up to $10,000 in donations to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The White House said in a statement on Tuesday that Trump "strongly supports" the repeal, while internet privacy advocates frame this as a battle between privacy and profits.

“If and when any data becomes available, myself and Cards Against Humanity will do whatever we can do acquire it and publish it,” Temkin wrote. “We have a long track record of activism and spending around government transparency issues. We've donated over a million dollars to the Sunlight Foundation and the EFF.”

Kate Tummarello, a policy analyst at the San Francisco-based EFF, told NBC News the "commonsense rules" Congress voted to repeal were designed "to protect your data" and keep internet service providers from doing a "host of creepy things" without your consent.

In his Reddit post, Temkin addressed why he believes something like internet privacy is important by quoting computer security professional and cryptographer Bruce Schneier.

“We do nothing wrong when we make love or go to the bathroom. We are not deliberately hiding anything when we seek out private places for reflection or conversation,” Temkin wrote, quoting Schneier’s 2006 piece in Wired titled “The Eternal Value of Privacy.” "We keep private journals, sing in the privacy of the shower, and write letters to secret lovers and then burn them. Privacy is a basic human need.”

The top voted comment on the thread is from user ArturosDad.

“I have no idea who you guys are, or what your game is about (apologies, I am an old person), but if you manage to pull this off, you will certainly have my business,” they wrote.

Card Against Humanity did not immediately respond to NBC 5's request for comment.

In a separate tweet, Temkin warned supporters of Kickstarters and other crowdfunding platforms saying they are supporting the cause.

“Also be wary of Kickstarters to buy this data, it doesn’t exist and isn’t for sale yet. Nobody knows what they’re talking about,” he tweeted.

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