Fundraising site brings in over $190,000 to publish ‘everything from their medical, pornographic, to their financial’ history, but experts say it’s not possible

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A fundraising campaign that pledges to purchase Congress members’ internet browsing history has been called into question amid confusion over whether it is actually possible to acquire that data.

Search Internet History was created on 25 March, ahead of the House of Representatives vote to allow internet service providers to sell customers’ browsing data.

Trump poised to sign away privacy protections for internet users Read more

The campaign’s GoFundMe effort had raised over $190,000 as of Friday, collecting donations from more than 10,000 people. Search Internet History founder Adam McElhaney wrote that he would purchase “internet histories of all legislators, congressmen, executives and their families” and publish the data on the campaign’s website.

“Everything from their medical, pornographic, to their financial and infidelity,” McElhaney added.

But tech experts and activists are warning people not to donate to Search Internet History – and similar campaigns including Buy Congress’ Internet Data, which has raised $70,000 – as there is no evidence that buying individuals’ search history is possible.

“Whether self-proclaimed privacy activist Adam McElhaney means well or not (and he may), this campaign just doesn’t make a lot of sense,” wrote Taylor Hatmaker for TechCrunch.

“It’s not like this sort of thing is a true open market where absolutely anything goes. Private individuals can’t just waltz in, slam their money on a table […] and demand targeted, de-anonymized internet data on individual users, successful GoFundMe campaign or not.”

On Tuesday the House voted to repeal an Obama-era rule that would have required internet service providers to ask customers’ permission before selling data. The vote means that providers like Optimum, Verizon and AT&T are allowed to collect individuals’ data history and sell that information to advertisers – without consent.

Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law this week. The votes provoked ire from both ends of the political spectrum – even Breitbart News commenters criticized the ruling – and prompted McElhaney’s fundraising effort.

“To be clear, you can’t do this,” Russell Brandon wrote on technology website the Verge, criticizing the GoFundMe campaigns. Brandon said the Telecommunications Act “explicitly prohibits” the stated purpose of the Search Internet History and Buy Congress’ Internet Data’s campaigns.

“Just because carriers are allowed to market against data doesn’t mean they’re allowed to sell individual web histories. The campaigns seem well-intentioned, but that’s just not how it works,” Brandon said.

McElhaney, who did not respond to requests for an interview, responded to some of the criticism on his GoFundMe page on Thursday.

“When I mentioned I wanted to obtain the web habits and history of the legislators and their families who approved the bill, I meant that in an abstract sense,” he said, adding that he would return donations if he was unable to deliver on his plan.

Cards Against Humanity creator to bombard senator's office with potatoes Read more

McElhaney said he may attempt to buy data in bulk and then search through it to find specific politicians’ IP addresses. But there is no guarantee that this would work, according to Heavy.

“It might theoretically be possible to buy data in aggregate at some point in the future, such as a block of IPs, and maybe drill down from there. But that’s pretty hypothetical,” the site said.

Max Temkin, founder of Cards Against Humanity and instigator of a number of crowdfunding campaigns himself, was among those who criticized the fundraising efforts. Temkin has promised to buy and publish Congress’s browser history if possible.

But in a Reddit post he warned that “nobody knows what they’re talking about” in terms of when data might be able to be purchased, “how it will work, or what will be available”.

“This means you should be very skeptical of any GoFundMe projects to buy this data,” Temkin said.

“They are making promises they can’t possibly keep.”