Washington — On a party line vote, the Senate on Thursday overturned privacy rules that barred companies that provide internet service from gathering and profiting from consumers’ personal information without their consent.

If the measure passes another vote in the House, internet providers such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast will be empowered to monitor where consumers browse online, what they buy, what they watch on television, as well as any health and financial information that you divulge through internet use.

The repeal, part of a Republican effort to unwind regulations imposed under President Obama, passed with 50 Republican votes. Forty-six Democratic senators and two independents voted against.

Republican proponents of the repeal of the Federal Communications Commission rule imposed last October said it would level the playing field between internet service providers and internet giants like Facebook, Google and Twitter that already harvest some personal data and use it for targeted advertising.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who is chairman of a judiciary subcommittee on privacy and the sponsor of the move, said afterward that overturning the FCC regulation would halt regulatory expansion.

“It will not change or lessen existing consumer privacy protections,” Flake said.

A trade association of broadband service providers and suppliers, USTelecom, hailed the move as a “win for consumers” — rather than a boon for industry — and a step toward harmonizing privacy standards across the internet.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the vote marked a rout for consumers.

“We are talking about taking privacy rights away from individuals if we suddenly eliminate this rule,” Nelson said. “This is a gold mine of data, the Holy Grail, so to speak.”

“It is no wonder that broadband providers want to be able to sell this information to the highest bidder without the consumer’s knowledge or consent,” Nelson said.

“The Republican war on the free and open internet has arrived,” said Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., adding that “every American should be alarmed” by the potential rollback of broadband privacy protections.