OT: Will your ISP be spying on you?

[William]

Interesting article. Does this constitute an illegal search & seizure?



William



Will your Internet provider be spying on you?
By Douglas Rushkoff
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/06/opinion/rushkoff-online-monitoring/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

"This month, if everything goes according to schedule, your Internet service provider may begin monitoring your account, just to make sure you aren't doing anything wrong with it -- like sharing copyrighted movie or music files. While we might all agree that copyright holders need to be protected, we may not all be equally happy about all of our communications being checked for violations. People and businesses who are not doing anything illegal may still have some things they wish to hide from their Internet access providers.

Under normal circumstances, your Internet service provider, or ISP, tries to protect you and your data from spying eyes. Cablevision, Time Warner Cable (an independent company no longer directly affiliated with TimeWarner, the parent of CNN and this site) and Comcast utilize all sorts of software to keep the connections between our modems and their servers safe. They also encourage us to keep our home networks secure from eavesdroppers.

But what are we supposed to do when the eavesdropper is the ISP itself?...."



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[tiretrax]

They aren't really spying - monitoring their networks. Since they are private entities, the 4th Amendment doesn't apply, so, unfortunately, that's they are doing nothing wrong. It's like your neighbor watching your actions and calling the cops when you do something wrong.

What I find more troubling is that the Chief Justice has said that Congress can compel us to action by using the tax code.

[William]

They aren't really spying - monitoring their networks. Since they are private entities, the 4th Amendment doesn't apply, so, unfortunately, that's they are doing nothing wrong. It's like your neighbor watching your actions and calling the cops when you do something wrong.

What I find more troubling is that the Chief Justice has said that Congress can compel us to action by using the tax code.

If my neighbors are watching what I'm doing "in" my house, then we have an issue that needs a remedy!:)



William

[oliver1850]

I think Verizon among others already monitor music downloads. They have some sort of agreement with RIAA to terminate service to customers that appear to be sharing music files.

[christian]

Well, that solves it for me. No way am I getting a Gaulzetti or a Speedvagen.

BTW, I think a stem would be better at spying on me than an ISP. Seems to me all it would see is the bottom of my Regal?

[Mark McM]

They aren't really spying - monitoring their networks. Since they are private entities, the 4th Amendment doesn't apply, so, unfortunately, that's they are doing nothing wrong. It's like your neighbor watching your actions and calling the cops when you do something wrong.

If your neighbor thinks you might be talking about them on the phone, can they tap your phone lines? If you're landlord thinks you might be cheating on your taxes by deducting part of your rent as "office space", can he come in and search your apartment?

Telephone lines and apartments, which are privately owned by parties other than the users, have been recognized as places/utilities where there are expectations (and rights) for privacy. There has been less precedence regarding electronic data communications privacy, but many believe that they are used for similar purposes as other more established communications means (such as mail or telephone) and that there should be similar rights and expectations of privacy.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . which ISP's are going to do this and which are not--and is there some way to find out? Like others, I have a pretty big philosophical problem with something like this.

If you utilize a file sharing site for any purpose does the ISP just assume that you're sharing copyrighted material illegally? There are many sites that allow file sharing of copyrighted materials for good legal reasons.

If I download an image from a web page to share it with my friends on Facebook, does my ISP assume I am "stealing" the image and terminate my service?

BBD

[rwsaunders]

Well, that solves it for me. No way am I getting a Gaulzetti or a Speedvagen.

BTW, I think a stem would be better at spying on me than an ISP. Seems to me all it would see is the bottom of my Regal?

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[eippo1]

Can't see how corporations are ok with this. Seems like corporate espionage, which is already big business, could get even easier. No wonder my friends at biotechs no longer email during the day.

Also the ISP post comment is great.

[Chance]

If I download an image from a web page to share it with my friends on Facebook, does my ISP assume I am "stealing" the image and terminate my service?

BBD

That's not ever going to happen in real numbers. Maybe to make an example but that's about it. There is no way providers will hurt their own bottom lines. They'd end up cutting too many people.

[Chance]

What I find more troubling is that the Chief Justice has said that Congress can compel us to action by using the tax code.

The Chief Justice made it extremely clear that he didn't think it was a good idea in this case, but ruled it was constitutional because taxing has been used to control our behavior before. That part is nothing new.

[rwsaunders]

BTW...most corporate websites already who who visits, what areas of the sites are visited, how much time is spent visiting, as well as the domain provider's site that you visited from.

[dustyrider]

I had a roommate that was hyper sensitive to this type of thing.

He used BTGuard's services and claimed it was well worth the monthly cost, to avoid the prying eyes of others. He also liked to download loads of torrents, in the short time I lived with him he filled a couple TB drives. And I can only imagine the TB are still adding up.

Frankly I could care less, but it seems like this crowd is a lot like he is, hyper nervous about prying eyes, yet willing to share all kinds of information on an internet forum...go figure. :rolleyes:

I believe there are even websites that can make your IP address anonymous some how. Again I'm not overly concerned but youtube has a ton of instructional videos if you are.

[torquer]

What I find more troubling is that the Chief Justice has said that Congress can compel us to action by using the tax code.
Well, there's always the second amendment remedy.
Wouldn't that be "justice" for the Chief Justice?"
Disclaimer: the above is pure leftist scarcasm.

[David Kirk]

I thought an ISP just made the bike are to ship and resell later.

Maybe I missed something.


dave

[Ahneida Ride]

The Pedal Preserve already has black suburbans circling my house.