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Sonic.net's CEO On Why ISPs Should Only Keep User Logs Two Weeks
Sparrowvsrevolution writes "Dane Jasper's tiny Internet service provider Sonic.net briefly took the national spotlight last October, when it contested a Department of Justice order that it secretly hand over the data of privacy activist and WikiLeaks associate Jacob Appelbaum. But Sonic.net has actually been quietly implementing a much more fundamental privacy measure: For the past eighteen months it's only kept logs of user data for two weeks before deletion, compared with 18 to 36 months at Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner and other ISPs. In a lengthy Q&A, he explains how he came to the decision to limit logging after a series of shakedowns by copyright lawyers attempting to embarrass users who had downloaded porn films, and he argues that it's time all ISPs adopt the two-week rule."
excellent good sense, what more can one say?
-wb-
It is truly shocking that some people resist the idea of the police state! If for your own good! Think of the children! The only people with anything to hide are terrorists and criminals!
Face it, folks. The bottom line is, our governments and the corporations that control them, want a police state. They are afraid of freedom, and they will go to any lengths to limit freedom. Badmouthing the president is cause for the Secret Service to put a bullseye on you, and your communications channels. Exposing fraud in the corporate world is reason to haul your ass through the court system, and to take everything you own, along with everything that you might ever hope to own. And, cheating an author out of a dollar of royalties? Phht - ten years in prison sounds about right - to the police state, anyway.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Is multi-year log and data retention required by law, as it already is in the EU.
And if more ISP's jump on the 2-week "band-waggon" you'll quickly see one of the next "Defence Appropriations Bill" (or something like that) have a little addition sneaked in by someone in Homeland Security to legally require ISP's to hold 12 months of Logs/Emails.
Just like what's happening in the UK...
Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
Two weeks is sufficient time for ISPs to be able to do things like tracking down abuse and perform troubleshooting/tech support but short enough that a government bureaucracy and/or a gaggle of RIAA/MPAA lawyers would likely not be able to prepare and serve out a search warrant or subpoena in time.
If you want to congratulate someone, congratulate those who teach the public to vote that "two week rule" with their money.
If neither the local cable company nor the local DSL company observes the two-week rule, should people vote with their feet and move to a different city? The consensus last time I asked was that moving is not practical.
Because a government that can search any person at any time can falsely incriminate anyone, and motives for doing so are abundantly self-evident.
"During a routine anti-terrorism sweep, civil liberties activist John Doe was found to be in possession of methamphetamine, child pornography, explosive-making material, and pirated ABBA songs. He was immediately taken into custody and is being held at an undisclosed location for the public's safety..."
Right now we have an important check in the form of a search warrant. Before searching me, a law enforcement agent must demonstrate to a judge probable cause that I have committed, or will commit, a crime. It's not perfect, and there are notable loopholes, but at least there is some documentation and accountability.
Cynicism, like dogmatism, can be an excuse for intellectual laziness. - Susan Shirk
Small ISP here. When I spoke to the Home Office at the time they stated the directive applied only *after* they had expressed interest, i.e. up to that point as a small ISP we need not worry about keeping data.
This is about money, and not privacy. The major ISP's are starting to fight (and win) subpenas trying to identify their clients, not because they care about privacy, but because it is cheaper in the long run. The ISP in this case is also trying to lower their costs with their 2 week record retention policy. There are three ways this reduces their costs.
1. Their logs are gone in 2 weeks so those who would attempt legal action will have an impossible time window of 2 weeks to file a case and get the court to agree to their subpenas.. The ISP simply replies checks the time frames specified in the subpena and if ti is more than two weeks ago they reply with a form letter that says "Our records retention policy requires that we delete all logs over 2 weeks old" so we are unable to provide the information requested. Case closed with a form letter, lawyer paid almost nothing. Eventually the folks filing these cases will get the message and stop trying and then you can fire the lawyer...
2. The labor required to service subpenas will be reduced, both in the technical and legal departments so they can reduce labor costs and save some money.
3. There will be a slight reduction in disk space required (albeit pretty limited) to store logs. This is not a huge issue for a small ISP, but it might lower their hardware and maintenance costs.
This ISP is not trying to protect anybodies privacy, and they admit that fact. They will gladly take advantage of PR generated by folks who would see this as a privacy issue in order to get more customers, but this is not about privacy it's about saving money.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
ISPs should be like electrical companies, gas companies or water-works.
In other words, yes, keep track of how may kilowatts or liters of your service I used, but not whether I powered my toaster or made coffee, that's none of your business.
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J