Republicans Sell You Out: Internet Privacy Edition
The GOP just keeps finding new ways to suck.
posted by Winston Smith at
5:37 AM
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
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7 Comments:
Yep. First thing I did is check my ISP provider privacy policy. Fortunately, that bit is opt in. But without a rule, enforcement is hard. Looks like VPN is becoming necessary. DSL still has actual competition, unlike cable internet.
Wonder whether this could be thwarted with some kind of software that randomly browses? Kinda like browsing chaff to throw off the missile-tracking.
So long as it uses the same browser ID string, I don't see why not. There's also the TOR browser, which is effective against commercial snooping, but not necessarily against government. (A government just needs to set up enough nodes to subvert it.) Too low bandwidth for video, or even lots of images, though.
At the very least, always try HTTPS first, rather than HTTP.
HTTPS won't defend against your ISP knowing where you're going, just what you're doing once you get there.
And I'm pretty sure using TOR, at this point, puts you on a government watch list immediately. It's like screaming at them "YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT I'M DOING!!! TEE HEE!!" Plus, probably 80% of the shit on TOR is illegal, so the government has a rather large incentive to hack into it. They've probably already done it. It's kind of a silly system.
In my estimation, it's probably best to ignore lightweight concerns like this one (o noes, my ISP knows I went to Google...) and focus instead on the outrageous reach of the NSA. They'll intercept your damn laptop in the mail and install surveillance hardware in it:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-nsa-uses-powerful-toolbox-in-effort-to-spy-on-global-networks-a-940969-3.html
We ain't got time to worry about ISPs selling my Internet browsing habits. The public can barely focus on anything for more than two seconds, as it is.
In the meanwhile, blend in with the school of fish and make sure the services you use have valid certificates.
Mystic--
That's why I suggested VPN first. The trouble with corporate tracking is there's no limit to its use. Web traffic might affect credit score, background checks, and any number of other things. Who knows? With the government, I know more or less what they are looking for. An arrest and prosecution is genuinely hard work. Messing with credit scores is just electrons--dirt simple.
Ah, sorry - missed the initial VPN suggestion.
That's an ok idea, too, but you are basically just shifting trust from the IPS to the VPN service.
Another way to deal with this is to share connections, a la Infiniti WiFi (or the library.) The trouble with that is then your neighbors can peak at your traffic, instead of the ISP. It's a pretty awful decision, especially given that it's a paid service wanting sell out its customers. Here's more
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/encryption-won%E2%80%99t-stop-your-internet-provider-from-spying-on-you/ar-BBz1tPH
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