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Qwest Plan Stirs Protest Over Privacy
gilroy writes: "The New York Times has an article (free registration required) about customer reaction to a recent mailing by Qwest. Although the mailer only describes their privacy policy as it currently exists, apparently it's caught a few people by surprise." This hit David Farber's IP list a few days ago: see the original message or the follow-up. As Brett Glass accurately notes, most people believe that information about who they call is protected by law.
If you're in Minnesota, you can dump Qwest for USLink. Anywhere Qwest offers service, so does USLink. I've been with them for about 4 months, and they are both cheaper, and they haven't "accidentally" messed up my bill like Qwest did every single month. And you get to keep your same phone number.
Seriously, if you have problems with Qwest, report them to your state Public Utilities Commission. I reported them about 5 different times. One of Qwest's customer service people actually suggested I cancel my service because they didn't want me as a customer anymore. After I left, they called me almost every day to get me back. I hate Qwest.
Also, for anti-qwest propaganda, check out http://www.tsewq.com.
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An article about privacy on a website that REQUIRES its users to register. C'mon, this is satire begging to happen.
-- Dan
Username : goatse
Password : goatse
You have a right to share in the profits, afterall, it's thanks to you they have something to sell...
AC comments get piped to
Some other things you will soon notice... same newscast on different competing channels. Television stations can own more than one in any particular area.
Gee, that explains why KING 5 news is also run on KONG 16 here in Seattle.
I wondered about that.
Lemon curry?
What exactly is the wireless data that Qwest is collecting and passing on? All they say is "information about wireless services", but that could include facts like "Mr L's cellphone was moving through the I-5 cells at 90 mph" which they could sell to everyone from WA highway patrol to BMW; and they could use the cell location information to see where the caller is and sell that to marketing weasels for directed selling. There is no need for E911 resolution for many marketing purposes, and the regular pings between handset and base stations will give them intermittent location info even when you dont make calls.
"It's like a police state, only you pay $49.95 a month on a family plan to be part of it"
-Steve
disclaimer. I dont have a qwest mobile; I did after they took over USWest, but I dumped that service for verizons prepay for which I gave my UK address. So that little vendor may fall foul of the EU privacy laws if they do stuff with my data.
Cool, so if I put a sign up in front of my house saying, "By parking here, you agree to give me your car" (or whatever the legalese for that is), I get all those cars?
I mean, it's right there in front of their face, and anything that's written in legalese is legally binding, right?
I might even get a better haul if I used my T&C sign downtown...
--
Benjamin Coates
So the talk tonight is about your phone call history being for sale. Perhaps it's already happening, or perhaps the water is merely being tested... the groundwork laid. But let's speak generally, and think about the future. If privacy is outlawed, look at the bright side. There should be a lot of interesting things for sale!
If the telephone company will sell the dirt on who calls who and when, then they should sell it to anyone... even you, right?
Of course, they may refuse to sell YOU such information (for whatever reason). Then you have an interesting double-standard to explore... Why do they deal with Mr. Make Money Fast and not with you? It might be a question for the courts. And you can probably fool them into dealing with you anyway - start a "fake" shell company, pretend to be someone they will deal with, etc...
I would be surprised if it's so hard, though. If they've really gone to the trouble of gearing up to sell this data, shouldn't they be selling it to every customer they can find? No, the worst possibility is likely that they will make it a little bit expensive. But this won't be a bother to a public interest group which can pool resources.
Now picture yourself holding the binder of DVDs (or the u/p to the database) - phone records for whole regions for whole years. You now have access to all kinds of nifty information about all kinds of interesting people. Celebrities, government bureaucrats, policemen, your ex-girlfriend/boyfriend, your boss, your employees... The more detailed and revealing the data, the better!
An apocryphal mountain of dirt will be at your fingertips. Start mining it, and start abusing it! Anyone you embarass or blackmail is an instant convert to the cause! The more marks you horrify, and the more wealthy and powerful they are, the better. Get creative! Take out a full page in a local paper and fill it with names of everyone in the neighborhood who calls 900 numbers for pr0n. "Stalk" your mayor/congressman/sherrif/principal. Try to catch people cheating on their spouses. Try to catch businessmen calling politicians - and vice versa! Have fun watching how much police talk to organized criminals - and when!
Of course, the really interesting targets (members of congress, secret service, military, movie stars) might somehow manage to get themselves hidden - although many won't, since the opt-out trap works on powerful and meek alike. Regardless, you either get everyone, or you get another exploitable double-standard, from which comes either the ability to make trouble for the marketers, or the ability to get yourself off the lists too.
Hey, that's one of my favorites - the myth that you can "opt-out" at all - meanwhile, everyone who's already bought your data has resold it to 100 people, and each of those resold it to another 100... You could print a regular column of detailed information on those people who have "opted out" by buying the data regularly and comparing versions. I just kill myself sometimes.
The worse damage they do, the more egregious the privacy violations become, the better the opportunities for successful protest. If some people (dare we say, even the majority of people) lack the imagination to understand what the erosion of privacy rights is doing to them, then they need some preventative medicine, and (according to the gov't!) you have every right to give it to them. It will be your social duty, not to mention smashingly funny, to unleash some tough marketing love, if you will, on the unenlightened. You know what they say: we only realize what we love by how much it hurts when it's lost.
We're on the road to Tycho.
The New York Times has an article (free registration required) about customer reaction to a recent mailing by Qwest. Although the mailer only describes their privacy policy as it currently exists, apparently it's caught a few people by surprise."
Read the horrors of people misusing your personal information!!! (must provide your personal information to access)
m00.