(Photo by Misha Feshchak / Unsplash)

D.C. is proposing rules that would restrict when cable and internet companies can collect and sell information about the browsing and viewing habits of their customers.

The draft rules, written by the D.C. Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment, are a direct response to a bill passed by Congress last year that repealed an Obama-era regulation that similarly sought to restrict how personal data collected by internet service providers can be used.

“The possibility of providers of cable and internet services collecting and selling District customers’ browsing data without their permission is of great concern to the District government,” reads the introduction to the draft rules. “The District has substantial interest in protecting the privacy of consumer data, and is committed to protecting District customers’ ability to exercise control over what personal details providers collect from them and how the data is used.”

The rules would require a customer to give their “affirmative consent” before their cable or internet provider could collect or disclose any information on their viewing or web-browsing habits. They would also mandate that cable and internet companies destroy any personally identifiable information about customers within 90 days, and allow customers the option to request that their contact information not be sold to marketers or other third parties.

Ever since Congress repealed the privacy rule, states have rushed in to pass their own rules and restrictions — though only a handful have actually successfully done so. In both Maryland and Virginia, bills introduced during this year’s legislative sessions to enact some of the privacy protections that Congress repealed failed to move forward.

A bill to provide for additional online privacy protections was introduced in the D.C. Council in July 2017, but it has yet to move forward. The draft rules are being proposed through the government’s rulemaking process; public comments are being accepted for 30 days and then changes will be made before a final version of the rules is completed.

Internet companies like Comcast and AT&T said last year that even though the federal privacy rule had been repealed, they would not sell or collect their customers’ browsing histories. But civil liberties groups still say that states should pass new restrictions to ensure that data is not collected — or that if it is, it’s only done so after a customer consents.

“It seems like a no-brainer that an Internet Service Provider (ISP) should have to get your permission to snoop on and use the private information you generate as you browse the internet,” said the Electronic Frontier Foundation in late 2017.

This story originally appeared on WAMU.