« Is Wanting Privacy an Evolutionary Throwback? | Main | Technorati Trying Tough Love With Broken Blogs »
April 4, 2008
Our Privacy Policy Is Posted Behind the Door That Says "Beware the Tiger."
"The online behavior of a small but growing number of computer users in the United States is monitored by their Internet service providers, who have access to every click and keystroke that comes down the line.
"The companies harvest the stream of data for clues to a person's interests, making money from advertisers who use the information to target their online pitches.
"The practice represents a significant expansion in the ability to track a household's Web use because it taps into Internet connections, and critics liken it to a phone company listening in on conversations. But the companies involved say customers' privacy is protected because no personally identifying details are released.
"The extent of the practice is difficult to gauge because some service providers involved have declined to discuss their practices. Many Web surfers, moreover, probably have little idea they are being monitored."
So, to review:
- They're gathering information, in at least some of these cases, without any useful consent from the trackees (read further into the article and the reporter notes that there's little mention of the practice in a 27 page document).
- They won't talk about it with anyone.
- They say it's o.k. because no information is being "released."
We already know they've got a taste for surveillance, so I think it's the dumb arrogance involved in saying "well, if we don't give any information away, then there are no privacy implications" that most irritates.
Oh ... I had this one sitting in another tab:
BT admits spying on 36,000 internet users
"BT tested secret 'spyware' on tens of thousands of its broadband customers without their knowledge, it admitted yesterday.
"It carried out covert trials of a system which monitors every internet page a user visits. "
The best part of that story: Its support techs told users who thought something strange was going on that they probably had a virus.
Stay classy, BT.
Posted by mhall at 11:06 AM | Add Comment
Leave a comment