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Inside Comcast's Surveillance Policies

Posted by kdawson on from the cost-you-a-pretty-penny dept.

Monk writes "The Federation of American Scientists has obtained a recently disclosed Comcast Handbook for Law Enforcement which details its policies for divulging its customers' personal information. (Here's the handbook itself in PDF form.) All of Comcast's policies seem to follow the letter of the law, and seem to weigh customer privacy with law enforcement's requests. This is in apparent contrast to AT&T and a number of other telecommunication companies, which have been only too happy to give over subscriber records. According to the handbook, Comcast keeps logs for up to 180 days on IP address allocation, and they do not keep all of your e-mails forever (45 days at most). VoIP phone records are stored for 2 years, and cable records can only be retrieved upon a court order. The document even details how much it costs law enforcement to get access to personal data (data for child exploitation cases is free of charge)."

8 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. Secure your email by MacDork · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'll trot this pony out one more time:

    (Mac OS X 10.3+) http://www.joar.com/certificates/
    (Windows) http://www.marknoble.com/tutorial/smime/smime.aspx

    1. Re:Secure your email by greg_barton · · Score: 3, Informative

      They track mud in, can drop anything anywhere and say that they found it there. That can't be done with email.

      You're kidding, right?
    2. Re:Secure your email by shawb · · Score: 3, Informative

      And I forgot to post a link to this article

      --
      I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
  2. Re:How much it costs? by Burdell · · Score: 2, Informative

    IIRC, when a subpoena is issued for information from a third party, that party can charge a fee to cover the costs of gathering the requested information.

  3. Re:How much it costs? by the+unbeliever · · Score: 2, Informative

    Most law enforcement budgets have a clause for "emergency funding for investigative purposes"

    Comcast's charges don't seem unreasonable either, considering the amount of data they'll have to sift through to provide the information.

  4. Quick and Dirty Summary by value_added · · Score: 4, Informative

    Interesting read, especially considering the "Comcast Confidential" footer at the bottom of every page. That said, it's informative only insofar as it states there's laws to be considered, and makes clear the folks at Comcast insist on following them. Nothing in that document is very different than a typical publically-available TOS. Here's an excerpt:

    Generally, the following information, when available to Comcast, can be
    supplied in response to the types of requests listed below. Each request
    is evaluated and reviewed on a case by case basis in light of any
    special procedural or legal requirements and applicable laws. The
    following examples are for illustration only.
     
    - Grand Jury, Trial, or Statutorily Authorized Administrative Subpoena
    - Judicial Summons
    - Court Order
    - Search Warrant
    - Preservation Request/ Backup Preservation Request
    - Pen Register / Trap and Trace Device
    - Foreign Intelligent Surveillance Act of 1978
    - National Security Letter
    - Child Abuse
    - Emergency Disclosure

    As for the email policies referred to in the summary, Comcast does not store emails any longer than the subscriber chooses keeps them.

    Comcast's Webmail service permits customers to change their email
    deletion policies, but the current default settings are described below.
     
    - Inbox (Read Mail No automatic deletion policy)
                        (Unread Mail 45 day retention period)
    - Trash (Read Mail 1 day retention period)
                        (Unread Mail 1 day retention period)
    - Sent Mail (Read Mail 30 day retention period)
                        (Unread Mail 30 day retention period)
    - Screened Mail (Read Mail 3 day retention period)
                        (Unread Mail 3 day retention period)
    - Personal Folders (Read/Unread No deletion policy)
    - Popped Mail (Deleted immediately from web mail servers)

    Put another way, Comcast doesn't store your emails. You do.

    1. Re:Quick and Dirty Summary by Technician · · Score: 2, Informative

      Doesnt matter, Vonage and all VOIP Providers must be CALEA Complient or huge fines are given.

      correction Vontage and all US VOIP Providers must

      There fixed it. From you link..
      "The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) is a United States wiretapping law passed in 1994 "

      Vontage is US based. Where is Ekiga which ships with Ubuntu based?
      http://ekiga.org/index.php?rub=3&pos=0&faqpage=x149.html
      "1.1.4. What is it compatible with?
      Ekiga is compatible with any software, device or router supporting SIP or H.323. It includes SwissVoice, CISCO, SNOM, ... IP Phones, but also software like Windows Messenger, Netmeeting, SJPhone, Eyebeam, X-Lite, ... or also the Asterisk popular IPBX, as well as any other commercial or Open Source IPBX."

      How many of these supported services is directly under CALEA?

      Vontage may be CALEA Complient. Not everyone is under US rule. Not all VOIP service is commercialy provided.

      --
      The truth shall set you free!
  5. Cox by DanielBoz · · Score: 2, Informative

    For any interested here is the equivalent info on Cox Communications: http://www.cox.com/policy/leainformation/default.asp http://www.cox.com/policy/leainformation/CoxLawfulInterceptWorksheet.pdf