Privacy, Government, Surveillance, and You.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/internet-privacy-bill-vote-coming-in-the-house/

Just be sure to clean out your cookies after every session.

Or switch to Sonic as an ISP.

BTW the bill to repeal has passed the House with every Democrat and only 15 Republicans voting against it (205 total nays, 215 total yeas). The ultimate fate of universal guaranteed internet privacy is now in the small hands of a president who I'm not thoroughly convinced knows how important the internet or privacy is.

edited 28th Mar '17 4:04:18 PM by MorningStar1337

We all knew that was gonna happen. The Supreme Court probably won't yank their leash to get the bill terminated like they did with SOPA and PIPA before, either.

edited 28th Mar '17 5:11:29 PM by Bat178

Why Sonic?

because it seems to value privacy a lot

Cool

So what does this getting repealed mean exactly?

IS Ps can share and sell your browsing history to advertisers, insurance companies, political parties, retailers, etc. and they might show you different prices for products, depending on your browser history, or target you for things related to your health. IS Ps can also charge you a premium for them to not share and sell your internet information.

edited 29th Mar '17 1:23:47 AM by Bat178

So I either have to clear my browser history and cookies every single damn time I use the internet, or bite the bullet and pay extra.

Shit.

So basically I have to do all my browsing on a proxy server?

Oh, look, now my ISP can tell people that I browse TV Tropes, Facebook, You Tube, Feedly, the NY Times, and Amazon. My life, it is over!

I think people are more worried about their porn habits tbh

And really, they owe us a cut.

Seriously, companies make massive profits selling browsing and purchasing habits. The very least they could do is pay for that information.

Here's the list of the 265 Congresspeople who sold out. Well well, why am I not surprised to see Jason Lewis on there?

x3 I'm more concerned about government abuse because of this. Say you criticize the president- are you now more likely to have your door kicked in by federal agents because of less privacy? You laugh, but we've seen how fragile this guy's ego is. I could totally see him telling ISPs, "Get me the names of anybody who badmouths me online. I want to arrest them."

edited 29th Mar '17 8:07:56 AM by speedyboris

Do you have any idea how many tens of millions he'd have to arrest? Fer gods sakes, he wouldn't have to demand the data from ISPs; all he'd have to do is scrape Facebook. Privacy is a chimera.

edited 29th Mar '17 8:22:36 AM by Fighteer

He wouldn't have to arrest millions; just a few thousand and the chilling effect would take care of the rest.

Or the street protests would make the ones we've seen so far look like picnics in the park.

Well, I commit no crimes, I do not engage in any practices considered transgressive by a majority of society, I generally spend all day either at work or playing on my computer. Yet I would not be comfortable with someone following me around all day, recording my activities, and selling the records to the highest bidder.

They kind of already are, though. That's what I'm saying. ISPs collecting data on you is just one more batch to add to the rest that's been going on for most of your life. Each of us has massive files in corporate data banks amassing our shopping habits, credit history, banking information, changes of address, cars owned, etc., etc. It's unstoppable and inevitable. What's one more data source?

If you want actual privacy, not the comfortable illusion of privacy, then the whole legal framework needs to be overhauled.

Ok, what would you propose as overhauls so we can have actual privacy?

I'm not sure there is such a thing. Someone is going to have your information; the idea is to make that someone you trust, who can then act as a broker to, on the one hand, guarantee the security and validity of transactions, and on the other hand, guarantee that your data won't be misused.

I have proposed, in the past (don't feel like digging out the whole megapost) that an international, government-sponsored "data bank" be that entity. You would receive a unique, unforgeable (in theory) digital ID that would be your key to the bank. All of your data — transaction history, payment history, browsing history, etc. — would be keyed to that ID. Anyone on the other end of any interaction — a web session, a purchase, a shipment — would not receive your personal information, but rather a transaction key that would provide access to your data for the purpose of that one transaction (or for ongoing transactions, depending).

For marketers, you would have to explicitly opt-in for any of your personally identifiable data to be used. However, aggregate statistical data would be made available to anyone who wants it — fees for the download of large data sets might help fund the system.

You could, of course, choose to transact outside of the bank, but it would not have any of the guarantees of privacy and security that the data bank offers.

There are lots of details, criticisms, and pitfalls, but I see this as the only way to satisfy all demands.

edited 29th Mar '17 2:16:02 PM by Fighteer

Well, you've given up is all, Fighteer. If you really think its inevitable and unstoppable, might as well but a camera in your bedroom. I, on the other hand, think its merely a matter of careful regulation. Most corporate businesses are not comfortable breaking the law.

Couldn't at least curb the ads with Adblock?