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Comcast privacy move its latest woe
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Posted by: Tweaker
Comcast's decision under fire Wednesday to stop storing Web users' data is only the latest dust-up for the cable company that's struggling to move customers onto its new network after the Excite@Home bankruptcy.
The cable giant's latest problem stemmed from reports Tuesday that it had installed software that compiled detailed records of its customers' Web usage. The software--part of a newly built high-speed Internet service created since the Excite@Home bankruptcy--was apparently intended to speed service and cut costs by "caching," or preloading, sites most requested by its customers.
Comcast President Stephen Burke said Wednesday that the company began storing people's Internet Protocol and URL information six weeks ago when it set up its new network.
"This information has never been connected to individual subscribers and has been purged automatically to protect subscriber privacy," Burke said. "Beginning immediately, we will stop storing this individual customer information in order to completely reassure our customers that the privacy of their information is secure."
While this is outrageous news and there is no good, ethical reason for Comcast to do this, do any of you seriously expect privacy when communicating over the Internet?
Web sites track your usage, they can even tell where you came from. They can also record your IP address, what browser and operating system you use, and what you click on the entire time you're there. This can all be done without cookies, so disabling cookies doesn't really help you much. My problem is that now Comcast will have credit card numbers, bank account numbers and any other information they can gather from looking at someone’s online bank information. And even if Comcast could be trusted with this information what's to keep their proxy server from being hacked and all this info stolen. Privacy as we call it, is only what information we keep in our heads and not on paper!
Story here
Source: CNET News
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