Da-Chief
07-16-2008, 11:51
http://i.dslr.net/urls/62/4062.gif (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Congress-Now-Eyes-Embarqs-Use-Of-NebuAD-96150)
While Charter recently got all the bad PR (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95551) for their decision to sell your browsing data to NebuAD, they certainly weren't the only ISP tinkering with the technology. Congress now appears to be looking into Embarq's recent NebuAD trial, sending the company a letter (http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3410&Itemid=141) asking them precise details about the trial, including how many customers were impacted, in which markets the trial was conducted, and just how those customers were informed.We are writing with respect to a recent test conducted by Embarq to tailor Internet advertising to the web-browsing patterns of individual Embarq subscribers...As you may know, questions have been raised regarding the applicability of privacy protections contained in the Communications Act of 1934, the Cable Act of 1984, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and other statutes, to such practices.
Of course like many ISPs, Embarq announced the trial by burying it in their privacy policy (http://www2.embarq.com/legal/privacy.html). Once the press started hammering Charter, Embarq, like several other ISPs (Centurytel (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95674)), acted quickly to distance themselves from the technology. Until just the last few weeks, Embarq's privacy policy still referenced the trial, but has since been scrubbed. This is what their privacy policy used to say:EMBARQ may use information such as the websites you visit or online searches that you conduct to deliver or facilitate the delivery of targeted advertisements. The delivery of these advertisements will be based on anonymous surfing behavior and will not include users' names, email addresses, telephone numbers, or any other Personally Identifiable Information. You may choose to opt out of this preference advertising service. By opting out, you will continue to receive advertisements as normal; but these advertisements will be less relevant and less useful to you. If you would like to opt out, click here (http://www.embarq.com/adsoptions).
Of course there was no mention that NebuAD's current opt-out system only opts you out of receiving personalized ads, but does not stop your browsing history from being tracked and sold to NebuAD.
Yesterday a reader raised a good point: with Congress suddenly so concerned about users being notified before their browsing history is sold, why hasn't anyone ever investigated the ISP sale of clickstream data? ISPs generally don't comment (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/03/isps_questioned.html) on that, but it's estimated they make about $5 per user, per month off of the sales. Your authorazation for them to do so is generally buried in vague legalese in your end user license agreement.
More...
While Charter recently got all the bad PR (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95551) for their decision to sell your browsing data to NebuAD, they certainly weren't the only ISP tinkering with the technology. Congress now appears to be looking into Embarq's recent NebuAD trial, sending the company a letter (http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3410&Itemid=141) asking them precise details about the trial, including how many customers were impacted, in which markets the trial was conducted, and just how those customers were informed.We are writing with respect to a recent test conducted by Embarq to tailor Internet advertising to the web-browsing patterns of individual Embarq subscribers...As you may know, questions have been raised regarding the applicability of privacy protections contained in the Communications Act of 1934, the Cable Act of 1984, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and other statutes, to such practices.
Of course like many ISPs, Embarq announced the trial by burying it in their privacy policy (http://www2.embarq.com/legal/privacy.html). Once the press started hammering Charter, Embarq, like several other ISPs (Centurytel (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95674)), acted quickly to distance themselves from the technology. Until just the last few weeks, Embarq's privacy policy still referenced the trial, but has since been scrubbed. This is what their privacy policy used to say:EMBARQ may use information such as the websites you visit or online searches that you conduct to deliver or facilitate the delivery of targeted advertisements. The delivery of these advertisements will be based on anonymous surfing behavior and will not include users' names, email addresses, telephone numbers, or any other Personally Identifiable Information. You may choose to opt out of this preference advertising service. By opting out, you will continue to receive advertisements as normal; but these advertisements will be less relevant and less useful to you. If you would like to opt out, click here (http://www.embarq.com/adsoptions).
Of course there was no mention that NebuAD's current opt-out system only opts you out of receiving personalized ads, but does not stop your browsing history from being tracked and sold to NebuAD.
Yesterday a reader raised a good point: with Congress suddenly so concerned about users being notified before their browsing history is sold, why hasn't anyone ever investigated the ISP sale of clickstream data? ISPs generally don't comment (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/03/isps_questioned.html) on that, but it's estimated they make about $5 per user, per month off of the sales. Your authorazation for them to do so is generally buried in vague legalese in your end user license agreement.
More...