[opendtv] Re: F.C.C. Proposes Privacy Rules for Internet Providers - The New York Times
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2016 07:53:33 -0400
On Mar 13, 2016, at 9:17 PM, Manfredi, Albert E <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
But the comparison is irrelevant, as the article pointed out. The FCC
has no authority to regulate Google and Amazon and Facebook; these
companies make billions selling our personal data.
But when you sign up for an account, you are told what these guys do with
your data.
The same is true for your ISP service.
When you get a telephone line or a broadband connection, you expect that line
is private.
At one time that might have been true. Now I assume that the line could be
monitored.
You are not told that the telephone company or broadband provider are
monitoring your every call, and selling information gathered during these
calls to whoever wants it.
Yeah...then we learned the NSA was collecting metadata on every phone call in
the U.S.
But the politicians fixed that unintended consequence last summer. The rewrite
of the Patriot Act now requires the telcos to collect this metadata; the
government now needs a warrant from the secret FISA court to look at it.
Fact is we now live in a society where we are monitored continuously.
- security cameras are everywhere
- license plate cameras can track vehicle movements
- our cell phones provide precise geolocation data
But don't worry, you have nothing to fear if you are doing nothing wrong...
Right?
The truth is the government is drowning in data. Google and Amazon and Facebook
are too, but they know how to process it. The Feds are pretty good at going
back and sifting through this mountain of data AFTER something bad has
happened...like the Boston bombers.
The important takeaway from the article is that only months after
claiming Title II authority to regulate the Internet, the FCC is
proposing rules that will only apply to the ISPs
Because ISPs have not been announcing that they monitor you communications
and sell the content openly, to whoever asks for it, for their own benefit.
I knew about this? Apparently you did not.
This story is almost a year old...
http://fortune.com/2015/04/28/isps-share-your-data/
You probably never read the fine print.
When you use the Google search engine it take three clicks to get to the
privacy info. But yes, we all know Google makes its money by selling ads and
our data.
Facebook claims, or claimed, that they could use photos you upload, for
instance. The simple fact is, Craig, the FCC never said they would regulate
those Facebooks etc. to ensure your privacy. But if you insist, I'm sure they
can be made to do so.
The fact is the FCC has no authority to regulate Google, Facebook et al, and
did not have the authority to regulate ISPs until the Title II order - this was
clearly stated in the article that started this thread.
Meanwhile, feel free to take a national referendum, to see whether or not
people expect their telephone line and broadband link to be private. Yes,
even in spite of the NSA overreach. Go ahead, Craig. Convince us that an
expectation of privacy in your telephone or broadband is absurd.
It is absurd to believe we still have the privacy you think exists. I don't
doubt a large number of people would like our constitutional protections to be
enforced. Then again, Pew Research did a poll that told us that 51% of us think
Apple should unlock the work phone of one of the San Bernardino shooters.
They already have the metadata from that phone. And that phone was (mis)managed
by the County Health Department. They run a phone management program that
allows them to unlock the phones they manage, but never bothered to set up that
feature for this phone. Then they changed the iCloud password at the FBIs
request and killed the opportunity to back up additional data.
Our only real protection is founded in the reality that there is simply too
much data to process, and our security agencies are seemingly incapable of
processing it to protect us.
The shooters in the recent French terrorist attack used unencrypted cell phones
to coordinate the moment of attack...then threw them in trash cans.
The government has no business sticking its nose into everything
we do.
And they don't. But you just complained that you don't want Amazon to sell
your data. Maybe you should get the FCC involved there, sounds like.
I did not make any such complaint. I said they are doing it, and the FCC has no
authority to stop it. And I said that these services DO NOT allow us to Opt
Out, as the FCC is proposing for broadband ISPs.
If you read the link above, you might learn that AT&Ts gigabit service in
Austin has two pricing tiers - it costs $20/mo to Opt Out of data collection.
The point being, knee-jerk libertarian rhetoric is totally unconvincing. Go
ahead and take that national poll, Craig, to see whether or not people expect
their blasted telephone or broadband service to be private.
We are in the middle of the biggest "national poll" in our country's history
Bert.
I think it fair to say that more than a few people are fed up with the status
quo in Washington D.C.
Some are even reliving the '60s...
Regards
Craig
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