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ISPs Claim a Privacy Law Would Weaken Online Security, Increase Pop-Ups (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The country's biggest Internet service providers and advertising industry lobby groups are fighting to stop a proposed California law that would protect the privacy of broadband customers. AT&T, Comcast, Charter, Frontier, Sprint, Verizon, and some broadband lobby groups urged California state senators to vote against the proposed law in a letter Tuesday. The bill would require Internet service providers to obtain customers' permission before they use, share, or sell the customers' Web browsing and application usage histories. California lawmakers could vote on the bill Friday of this week, essentially replicating federal rules that were blocked by the Republican-controlled Congress and President Trump before they could be implemented. The text and status of the California bill, AB 375, are available here.
The letter claims that the bill would "lead to recurring pop-ops to consumers that would be desensitizing and give opportunities to hackers" and "prevent Internet providers from using information they have long relied upon to prevent cybersecurity attacks and improve their service." The Electronic Frontier Foundation picked apart these claims in a post yesterday. The proposed law won't prevent ISPs from taking security measures because the bill "explicitly says that Internet providers can use customer's personal information (including things like IP addresses and traffic records) 'to protect the rights or property of the BIAS [Broadband Internet Access Service] provider, or to protect users of the BIAS and other BIAS providers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of the service,'" EFF Senior Staff Technologist Jeremy Gillula wrote.
The letter claims that the bill would "lead to recurring pop-ops to consumers that would be desensitizing and give opportunities to hackers" and "prevent Internet providers from using information they have long relied upon to prevent cybersecurity attacks and improve their service." The Electronic Frontier Foundation picked apart these claims in a post yesterday. The proposed law won't prevent ISPs from taking security measures because the bill "explicitly says that Internet providers can use customer's personal information (including things like IP addresses and traffic records) 'to protect the rights or property of the BIAS [Broadband Internet Access Service] provider, or to protect users of the BIAS and other BIAS providers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of the service,'" EFF Senior Staff Technologist Jeremy Gillula wrote.
If web browsers removed the code that implements popups, then it would be far less likely that they show up, regardless of what privacy laws are in place.
" Privacy laws directly attack one of our income streams, our ability to collect, store, and sell your personal information"
These companies are too big for the truth... they have been making money by selling their customers private info while charging same customers for the privilege.
Together with abolishing net neutrality they will be triple dipping... the customer, the marketers, and the sites that pay the bribe to be throttled less than the competition.
This is the perfect opportunity for that one AC to come along and say "ISPs can suck my DAMN balls!".
I had no idea what saint my ISP is. Just think how many ads and how much spam you'd get if they did NOT sell your personal information to advertisers and spammers.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
In Canada, the Canadian Constitution mandates Privacy.
People spend years handling the privacy popups required.
Oh. Wait. They don't. They just say "No" once and then the ads can't steal their info.
Hmmm.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Privacy laws will also cause you to become sterile. You can look it up.
You are welcome on my lawn.
As a direct result of your efforts, I just clicked over to the EFF site to sign up to do recurring monthly donations to them.
I've had a vague intention to do so for a while, but thanks much for pushing me into action.
Even if they tack on 300$ billion for the perverted arts.
But no Border Wall money. Seriously. Not gonna do it. Uh-uh.
Go to Taco Bell instead.
Seriously, why are ISPs in the US seems to treat everyone like they are god damn morons?
This kind of BS wouldn't even make it in the news in other countries, they wouldn't try to do this shit to begin.
Don't forget they already use the data to raise prices too.
So they will be quadruple dipping in the near future.
Also I don't know why anyone thinks this will be stopped while it is all "perfectly legal(tm)."
5x dipping. They often recive government subsidies as well.
They want just one thing: money. All businesses, not just the shady ones like AT&T and Comcast. Some find better excuses for the ways they pursue their true motivation and don't make their lies as obvious as the ISPs do, but they all would sell you for a profit if they could.
The bill would require Internet service providers to obtain customers' permission before they use, share, or sell the customers' Web browsing ....
In addition to REQUIRING customers' permission, I suggest they add the following to the law:
a damn ISP and we do not sell, let alone KEEP, any records on out users past Service Address, Name of person who activated the account, Drivers license number in case they bail on the bill. That is all that is legally required for ISPs to keep. Fk those other ISP's.
These fuckers... they really think people are idiots to beliebe in such outlandish claims.
WE NEED TO COLLECT YOUR DATA AND SELL IT FOR YOUR PRIVACY AND SECURITY
What's next? We need to double the price or your current plan because that prevents you from wasting it all on booze and drugs?
Regarding pop-ups, IMO the whole "click to agree to this legally binding document" idea should be rethought. It's far too easy to embed all sorts of nasty stuff in EULA's and most people can't fully understand the implications even if they do take the time to skim/read through it.
That would be like programmers saying: hey, read through the source code at this github address and if you click I Agree, then you are declaring you are ok with whatever the code is doing with your system/data, for better or worse. You don't understand it? Ah well, too bad. Hire a programmer to try and figure it out.
The right to privacy and security should be inalienable rights, impervious to click-wrap agreements.
Why is this the dilemma presented. We get user privacy at the cost of a parade of pop up windows. Really? Maaaaaybe you could decide to not spam your customers with popup windows.
This is how bullies talk: don't make me hurt you!
The sooner ISPs become regulated as utilities, the better.
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
People still use those for advertising? I haven't seen one on my own machines in 10+ years.
There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
We should all assume our internet connections are being monitored by our ISPs because they can't be trusted. This is where VPNs come into play because unlike the monopolies why rely on to get online we do have a choice which service providers take our privacy seriously. I've got a few I'd put some level of trust in, like ThinkPenguin's VPN wifi router produce + VPN service and Private Internet Access. Both have demonstrated a genuine concern. On the other hand most other VPN providers I wouldn't trust as far as I could spit. They're probably even more abusive than my ISP, but that isn't really saying much. Decentralization and encryption are the real answer to this issue though in the long term.
Problem solved?
Let's see:
- decrease security
- more hackerz
- more popups
What they forgot: IT WILL INCREASE GOLBAL WARMING too! Yes, right. Privacy zealots are the main cause for global warming. And for rotten teeth. And they eat little children.
Folks -- I usually think myself to be a civilized person. But when I read this lobbyist's drivel, I get my doubts.
Over here in Europe we've got a crazy law requiring websites to ask visitor consent before placing tracking cookies. Now all websites have popups. You can't refuse the cookies like envisioned by the privacy lobbyists when drafting the bill. You can either accept or leave the site. The law is a useless disaster doing absolutely nothing for privacy. It just annoys everybody.
Needless to say, lots of people now just use a browser plugin to just accept the cookies blindly.
Also please note this isn't a browser window popping up of course. It's an overlay over the web page.
This is your sig. There are thousands more, but this one is yours.
We haven't grown a spine to pass data privacy laws because we are greedy arseholes. Most data companies in the USA are now scum.
The consumer gets digitally raped from any company that can.
Microsoft - Windows 10 steals your data whether you like it or not. Oh, an advertising ID in your O/S? You are pieces of shit.
Google - Location needs to be on for Bluetooth services with no explanation? Really? Pummeling and locking out competitive smaller browsers and companies.
Roomba - Holy fuck that's scummy
Verizon - Scummy has as hell with the super cookie a few years ago now being brought back as a good for you opt in service!
At&t and Google fiber are the worst at this, selling as much data as they can to advertisers. I expect this law to result in At&T raising prices and Google fiber leaving the state.
Haha, popups -- fuck off!
I never thought California would do anything right! GJ Cali; now if you could just stop being shitty at everything else.