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Hawaiian Bill Would Force ISPs to Track Users' Web Histories For 2 Years

Posted by timothy on from the honi-ko'u-'elemu dept.

New submitter mazinger writes "In Hawaii, a bill has been proposed to retain data on Internet users and the sites they visit. Apparently, there is also no requirement for a warrant to obtain the information from service providers. The bill affects not only ISPs but also coffee shops and anyone providing Internet access."

11 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Why stop there? by Toe,+The · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why not just force every citizen to post a continuous blog of their every activity at every moment of every day for all time?

    That way, we could all rest assured that our safety is being protected.

    1. Re:Why stop there? by mr1911 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Your post is in jest and modded funny. Unfortunately it is right on for what the "authorities" would like, except the blog is posted for you by your phone, computer, ISP, neighbor, bank, employer, and cameras covering public places.

      It is for safety. Just not yours.

      --
      This post comes with a double-your-money-back guarantee!
      Any offense taken to this post is at your sole discretion.
    2. Re:Why stop there? by Stormthirst · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They do already. It's called Facebook. It's just not a requirement. Yet.

  2. I'll predict how the logs will look by TrueKonrads · · Score: 5, Funny

    [10/Oct/2012:13:55:36 -0700] "CONNECT https://www.hydemyass.com/ HTTP/1.0" 200 2326

    --
    Lone Gunmen crew.
  3. Another example of clueless legislators... by Iphtashu+Fitz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Once again we see a proposed law that will only impact law abiding people (and be a major invasion of their privacy to boot).

    If I was intent on covering my tracks I could take so many routes:

    - Download Tor and use it to privatize all my browsing
    - Search for open SOCKS proxies, etc. to exploit
    - Rent a VPS out of state and set up a proxy on it

    and any one of hundreds of other approaches to take...

  4. Let HI internet access go dark by snobody · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If the ISPs had any balls, they'd tell the HI government that, if they pass this law, the ISPs would simply cease to provide internet service to HI residents. And if they do pass the bill, make good on the promise. It's either that or be forced by the HI government to buy terabytes of disk space and thousands of dollars of computers to track everything the HI internet user does. Politicians should not make laws about technology that they don't understand.

    1. Re:Let HI internet access go dark by Tsingi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If the ISPs had any balls, they'd tell the HI government that, if they pass this law, the ISPs would simply cease to provide internet service to HI residents. And if they do pass the bill, make good on the promise. It's either that or be forced by the HI government to buy terabytes of disk space and thousands of dollars of computers to track everything the HI internet user does. Politicians should not make laws about technology that they don't understand.

      You mean the balls to go out of business?
      OTOH they could send the data to the government on a weekly basis and let them sink or swim.

      Where would you like that sent sir?

      No one uses the cliche "1984" anymore, we're living it.

    2. Re:Let HI internet access go dark by rgbscan · · Score: 5, Funny

      My friend here's trying to convince me that any independent contractors who were working on the uncompleted Death Star were innocent victims when it was destroyed by the Rebels. But I know a contractor listens to his heart when taking on a job :-)

  5. Re:illegal regulation of interstate commerce? by goldspider · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would argue that the Interstate Commerce clause doesn't give the federal government the authority to monitor private communications either. Statists are entitled to their opinions, I suppose.

    --
    "Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
  6. Re:camera on head time? by houstonbofh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Camera on head time,grafted to skulls?

    No... That could film the police. Can't have that.

  7. Not possible by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Informative

    I work for an ISP and was involved in a project in which we were just trying to monitor DHCP requests from users for a study... The size of the log files were upwards of 6gigabytes per DAY. If we actually tried to track and time stamp every IP they hit? It wouldn't even be remotely possible. The amount of data and the numbers of people and software required to pull it off would dwarf our entire operation. And that's BEFORE everyone starts messing with the system. People could just set up scripts to randomly ping IPs all day long and it would devastate any logging system in short order. There's no way the ISPs would put up with this.