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Australian Telco Causes Minor Panic While Preparing Web Filter
Twisted64 writes "Australia's largest telco, Telstra, has been frightening users of its mobile data services for the last week. Logging revealed that HTTP requests from a mobile device on Telstra's network were duplicated with a request from another server, located in Chicago. Eyebrows were raised on the Whirlpool forums, with fears that Telstra was giving up Australian browsing data to a U.S. company and therefore the U.S. government. Following a well-worded letter, Telstra revealed today that the reason for this behavior is that the company is preparing an opt-in web filter. Personally, while the idea of my browsing data being logged anywhere does not fill me with joy, the idea of the U.S. government having access to it (randomized or not) is probably going to be enough to make me switch to an inferior carrier once my current plan ends."
Switch now, switch immediately. You can cite breach of privacy as a breach of contract by Telstra,
You are obviously not an Australian. You remember a few years back when everybody complained that AT&T had a monopoly? That wasn't a monopoly. Telstra's network is a monopoly.
In Canada they are now allowed to switch at anytime without penalties due to government regulation. No need to wait for the plan to end. They can switch just because they want to without giving any reasons. Providers abused too much hence the regulation came.
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
What a nicely biased summary.
Why does Telstra need to send all URLs to another company in order to "prepare" a content filter?
Do they expect us to believe that Netsweeper didn't already have a database of URLs?
Maybe they plan to relocate the server somewhere more local once it's running.
From TFA: "Telstra was waiting on confirmation from its legal team before it is expected to issue a statement later today."
Hmm. Do something and then only check if it's legal? Equivalent to fire first and ask questions later. Tsk tsk.
Other Telstra users who frequent /.: is this typical behavior for them?
All I can say is,
"It's opt-in. For now."
Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
These double requests also causes a lot of trouble for some people.
I'm working for a company running a web service for corporations and we have a very high level of logging and surveillance in order to provide a good service. However we get a lot of strange alerts from double requests from different ip numbers. It appears that some content filtering companies like to do the same (Bluecoat I'm looking at you) and they even do requests with cloned cookies (so they act in the same session as the user).
A lot of funky things happens if you assume that a user is only going to access certain (GET) links once but a filtering company is intercepting the request and sometimes manage to make the request faster than the user.
Personally, while the idea of my browsing data being logged anywhere does not fill me with joy, the idea of the U.S. government having access to it...
My US-based Business stores user's information (I own a repair shop, we document model & S/N, names, addresses, etc, just like any other company), but that doesn't mean we share that information with the US government. What leap of logic could possibly lead people to believe that just because the server is in the US that the US Feds have access to it, or even care? Sure, the Feds like to spy on us (citizens), but why would they care what you (Aussies) shop for on eBay? Even if you can come up with a decent conspiracy theory, is it likely enough to warranty a story recommending people switch carriers?
Very misleading summary.
That's complete balderdash. This article is about the Telstra NextG (3G/4G LTE) cellular network, not their fixed line stuff. And Telstra has never, ever had anything remotely approaching a monopoly in the mobile market in Australia. Indeed, Australia's always had a much wider choice and range of cellular providers than most of the US has (and nowhere near the same degree of carrier-lockin via locked devices etc.)
Anyone on NextG can switch with minimal difficulty to Optus, Vodafone, Virgin, Boost, TPG, Amaysim ... (insert a dozen more carriers here). Whether or not those choices are BETTER than NextG is obviously questionable (NextG is by far the fastest and best coverage), but that does not mean there is no choice.
"is probably going to be enough to make me switch to an inferior carrier once my current plan ends." --- ha! Telstra is an inferior carrier, you really should be supporting iiNet. They are looking after their users rights, something Telstra has never done.
Users... the only thing keeping 1st level support from being the bottom feeders.
Even if you switch an ISP, 99% of your browsing will still be logged by third-party servers (most of which are in the US, if that matters to you).
Most sites today use iframes that send HTTP requests to the following:
Google Analytics
Google ads
Facebook
Twitter
etc.
There are a few options in Aus. Vodaphone, Optus, cheap resellers of optus like Amaysim etc. Only fools and horses go with Telstra.
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
Because TOS docs are REALLY long. Like 400 Pages in the unabridged small-print format. And nobody wants to read 400 pages of legalese.......Not even lawyers. That's why they hire paralegals to read 400 pages of nonsense that lets the seller claim rights over your firstborn and have a claim to 2/3rds of your blood if you cancel the service.
Hectice, baby, Mercator says hello to you
This is not about 'internet restrictions'. This is to do with the fact that this represents a potential breach of the Privacy Act. Australia has fairly strong privacy regulations that govern how and when information can be sent overseas, and how people need to be notified of how their information is used, who can see it, what it can be used for etc. America OTOH is notorious for having probably the most lax privacy regulations/legislation in the developed world.
So yeah, in that respect, Australia's laws are "worse" (in that they are more strict with regards to protecting personal information). And we like it that way. Surreptitiously exporting information to a jurisdiction where similarly tough controls do not exist is not looked upon favourably.
Or anyone that wants to use their mobile outside the metro area. There may be quite a few choices but its only really optus that has presence outside metro and their coverage is not even close to telstra.
how far are we talking? i've had 3 for years, and in many cases i get coverage out at my folks' place where even telstra has trouble.
that said, 3 has shitty coverage IN the city...
no coal for you!
the fact that right now, they can't afford the hard disks for their own population, let alone the rest of the world's.
I was sitting 25km from Winton in central queensland (read 200km from anywhere) and getting faster 3g from Telstra than I get in downtown Brisbane.... Nobody else gives you that coverage.
What this does it makes it nice and legal as you signed your privacy away when you stayed with the service :)
Australia has many very well trained lawyers. Sealed courts with ASIO intercept material are noticed by family, community and at a legal/media level - word gets out fast.
Terms like book chapter, hammer, hard drive, raid may not tell you much about what was, but people get an idea.
Now if your data flows to the USA and you allowed it to be searched for common words, jargon, complex strings, known evil user ID's on messengers services...
Any FBI, state, long term investigation makes you fair game. Expect a visit from the Australian Attorney-General’s Department with a sledgehammer for computer “cleansing” activities and much more...
No ASIO in sight, no assistance, no inquiry, none of that Inspector-General of Intelligence/Security Act 1986 mess... just you and your searching and a big helpful Australian telco.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Just like NoScript breaks the web for me,
That's normal and intented. NoScript is supposed completely block any interactive content (either scriptable/programmable stuff like javascript/java/.net/flash, or big media files like audio/video tags), until you whitelist something. :-) ) until you say: "Well, I might trust that source not to completely bork my machine, please unbreak it, and only it".
It is supposed to "break" everything (or more precisely make everything "Web 1.0"
It is for the paranoid us out there. It's not designed for someone who expect a set and forget solution to security (unlike tools like CertPatrol or HTTPS Everywhere, which don't require much fumbling from regular users). It's designed for people who don't trust anything and prefere to manually select which tiny bit of the web they might choose to trust, while disabling everything else (it's closer to Flashblock and other similar tools in that way. Except that NoScript has a wider scope by blocking *anything* interactive)
(In addition to that, it will also block cross-site-scripting until whitelisted, and will put alerts about click jacking).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Anyone on NextG can switch with minimal difficulty to Optus, Vodafone, Virgin, Boost, TPG, Amaysim ... (insert a dozen more carriers here).
Not quite! Anyone in a major urban area, maybe, but not anyone. I don't have a choice, there's only Telstra where i work (in a remote part of the Northern Territory).
Ok sure, that's true. However my post was in response to the statement that Telstra had a monopoly in Australia. They may have a de facto monopoly in some remoter areas, but that's a far cry from the comparison to AT&T that was being made.
It's spelt "brake light".
Break light is what the copper was doing.
One other possibility that doesn't seem to have been touched on is the reverse. Where intercept of domestic comms requires a warrant, intercept of domestic communications where one of the end points is located offshore provides significantly more latitude.
That's probably just to offset the fact that we pay close to (if not more than) double for those plans that our southern neighbours.
I Live in Canberra, I hate telstra, but they are the ONLY provider that seems to even cover the city let alone rural areas outside the city. I tried multiple providers before grudgingly admitting telstra was the only viable option. Vodafone worked in the city center but not my suburb, Optus was patchy at best and 3 was a total joke everywhere.
Personally, while the idea of my browsing data being logged anywhere does not fill me with joy, the idea of the U.S. government having access to it (randomized or not) is probably going to be enough to make me switch to an inferior carrier once my current plan ends."
I didn't actually know there were inferior carriers. I remember Telstra. We were a loyal customer for years. These were the guys who in I think a world first introduced the concept of a download limit. 3GB. Yes that's no typo. We had 10mbit cable and a 3GB download limit. I remember hitting that download limit on the second day of our billing cycle after which we were capped at 28.8kbps. This is the company which introduced an acceptable use policy without defining what acceptable use was. This was the company which refused to roll out ADSL2 in areas which already had ADSL. This was the company which charged more for wholesale use of it's network than it charged it's retail customers. It was a wise business decision too because once the ACCC put a stop to that practice users left in droves to cheaper better ADSL2 services.
I remember my last few days of Telstra cable fondly. We were paying some $80 per month with a 20GB download limit. When we tried to quit they gave us $300 credit so we jumped on the most expensive plan and then quit a month later anyway. Now I pay $60 per month for completely unlimited internet which is faster than the old cable we were on and we don't pay phone line rental either.
The only time I've seen people recently give Telstra a choice is if a) the company is paying, b) they had absolutely no other choice. Even if I now look at their plans, $70 for 200GB ex line rental for ADSL2 it boggles the mind that someone would pay these people willingly.
This is another good reason not to google self incrimination while planning a murder.
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Optus covers many regional areas now. Yes, it's not quite as extensive as Telstra, but for the vast majority of the population, it is more than adequate and they'd rarely ever go to those places that aren't covered.
The difference in price between the two is significant. If I ever go to one of those areas that aren't covered by Optus, I'll buy a Telstra pre-paid card and a cheap low-end phone, if I can be bothered at all.
worldmobilenet.com -- World Prepaid Wireless Internet plans
They own the cable to most of the towers no matter who owns them.
Nearly every choice involves Telstra at some point.
50% discount to seniors when bundling, and their superior 3G/4G mobile networks.
Other than that, they exist because of the copper their wholesale department owns...
"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over." - Aneurin Bevan
If I had to opt into a filter and the consequences were that my traffic has to go all the way from Austrialia to Chicago and back, that's not even about filtering anymore. Unacceptable ping time!!!
You can't really be serious about Vodafail can you? I got out of a contract for two phones 9 months early because they failed to deliver an acceptable service - hell, we even got a letter from the CEO of the company saying that they had oversubscribed their services. And I know I was not the only one that did so via the help of the telco ombudsman.
Optus is better, but still woeful internet speed over mobile in metro areas due to overselling of bandwidth. And once you get in to the country it gets very patchy.
As far as I know those are the only three networks, with all other players in the market reselling one of the above.
You've obviously not used their mobile network in recent years. The prices are a bit higher than you pay with other carriers, but the network is brilliant. I can actually use the data I pay for each month, as opposed to getting dialup speeds on those occasions when I can even load anything to begin with.
Agreed. I am also in Canberra, and tried both Optus and Vodafone before switching to Telstra. Vodfone had very poor coverage both in my home suburb and at my workplace (only a couple of kilometres from the city centre -- but probably affected by local hills). Even where the coverage seemed good, data speeds were very slow. Telstra has much more reliable and very much faster coverage, and better service these days, too.
Fine.
In the GSM era, then.
No motivation mate. I'm not paying $20/month more to get exactly the same thing I'm getting now.
If I lived in a rural area or a fringe suburb I may agree with you. I have heard that Telstra's network is quite a bit better than others. That said I have yet to experience someone getting a faster speed that I do, or even a case where someone gets service where I don't.
2 years ago I switched carriers because one of them offered sketchy service where I lived. But then that carrier has an entire hate website dedicated to them. My current carrier is not Telstra, and not a problem. Not in mobile, not in fixed landline, and sure as hell not in internet.