What ISPs Can and Can't Do with Your Data - DTNS WEEKLY TECH UPDATE 03/30/2017
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In a world, where people long to be outraged, one newsletter attempts to give you some actual context, on the ISP privacy situation. Is it a quixotic task? Maybe! But this newsletter is willing to TRY! Let us know what you think.
CLOSER LOOK -
Tuesday, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution preventing FCC rules on internet privacy from going into effect. That resolution will be sent to the President who is expected to sign it into law.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/28/us-house-votes-to-let-isps-sell-your-browser-history/
As I mentioned on the show, this doesn't change the current state of things. There are no FCC rules regarding what an ISP can do with your data and that hasn't changed. Public pressure has been the only lever to keep ISPs from doing much with user data and that will continue to be the case.
Here are a few things you should know about the actual existing state of your data and ISPs
ISPs Can't Sell Data on JUST YOU
Under the Telecommunications Act a carrier can only use individually identifiable customer information to provide its service, unless it gets customer permission or is required by law (say a warrant).
ISPs have explicit authority to sell aggregated information
The same Telecommunications Act says a telecommunications carrier "may use, disclose, or permit access to aggregate customer information..."
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/222
ISPs *might* not have legal authority to sell Browser History
The Wiretap Act makes it illegal to "intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral, or electronic communication" except under "color of law." The courts disagree over whether URLs are the always contents of the communication.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511
ISPs still have to disclose what they do with your data
Under the part of the 2010 Open Internet Rules that was upheld in court (different than the 2015 Open Internet Guidelines) ISPs are required to disclose the network management practices, performance characteristics, and terms and conditions. The FCC used this provision to fine Verizon for secret cookie tracking of its customers last year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_Open_Internet_Order_2010
https://www.wired.com/2016/03/verizons-zombie-cookies-will-finally-easier-kill/
ISPs target demographics not individuals
Some folks may have lost site of what the ISPs are fighting for here. It's the ability to use your info to push ads at you the way Google and Facebook do. That is using aggregated data to sell ads. AT&T was doing this when it gave customers a discount in exchange for permission to scan browsing history to deliver ads. AT&T ended that program in September 2016 in advance of the FCC rules.
Anonymous Data is not so anonymous
MIT researchers found that knowing the date an location of four purchases, gleaned from anonymized credit card histories, was enough to identify 90% of the people.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/536501/data-sets-not-so-anonymous/
ISPs can't be punished by the FTC
One of the arguments for blocking the FCC rules was that ISPs should fall under the same rules Google and Facebook and the like do. But those companies are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). However the February 2015 classification of ISPs as common carrier removed ISPs from the FTC's jurisdiction.
So there you have it. ISPs do have legal limits on what they can do but they have pushed to the edge of those limits. Knowing what they can legally do is essential to holding them responsible. And those of you lucky enough to have a choice of ISPs in the US, should use that pressure to affect ISP privacy policies.
NEWS RECAP
Samsung announced its Galaxy S8 and S8+ will go on sale April 21. The S8 has a 5.8-inch and the S8+ has a 6.2-inch curved 2960 x 1440 Super AMOLED screen with small bezels at the top and bottom. Both have a 2:1 or 18:9 aspect ratio, with HDR 10 support,a dedicated button for the Bixby assistant with voice and the ability to recognize objects with the camera, Snapdragon 835, SD card slot, a 12MP rear camera and 8 MP front camera. The S8 uses a virtual home button with haptic feedback and moves the fingerprint sensor to the back. It also has an Iris scanner, USB-C port, a headphone jack, Bluetooth 5.0 and comes with Android 7.0. The S8 has a 3,000mAh battery and the S8+ battery is 3500mAh.Samsung also announced DeX, a dock with USB and HDMI ports to use the S8 as a desktop computer. It's available in black gray and silver, and internationally in gold and blue. And the S8 can do carrier aggregation, 4X4 MIMO, and 256 QAM signals which means it can do up to a gigabit of data speed on compatible networks like T-Mobile Preorders start March 30 at 12:01AM Eastern time, prices are set by the carrier starting at $750. http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/29/15087530/samsung-galaxy-s8-announced-features-release-date-video-specifications
-- http://fortune.com/2017/03/29/samsung-galaxy-s8-gigabit-tmobile/
Samsung announced a new Gear VR headset coming April 21st for $129. A new motion controller with a trigger comes with it or can be purchased separately for $39. Oculus, which makes the hardware, promises 20 titles that use the new motion controller coming in the next month. Oculus also updated Oculus Home to boot up faster and look clearer and include a VR browser.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/29/samsung-gear-vr-3/
Samsung also announced an updated Gear 360 VR camera. It can record in 360-degrees of course but also supports 4K and a new design that makes it easier to hold. It’s compatible with Android 5 or later and iOS 10 devices as well as Windows and Mac. http://fortune.com/2017/03/29/samsung-gear-360-camera/
Samsung announced its first WiFi system, the Samsung Connect Home. Each unit can connect to others for wider coverage and comes with two network ports. An app called Samsung Connect manages the system, but only on the S8 though eventually will come to Android and possibly iOS. The app can also manage devices on Samsung’s SmartThings platform and the Connect Home can connect by Zigbee and Z-Wave. The Home will come in a pack of three or a variant called the Connect Home Pro with a faster processor, which is meant for solo use in smaller houses. No price or release date. https://www.cnet.com/products/samsung-connect-home/preview/
Microsoft’s Windows 10 Creators Update will start rolling out worldwide on April 11. Among the new features are support for mixed reality devices like Microsoft’s HoloLens, a dedicated game mode, new night light mode, parental controls like screen time limits, and the new Paint 3D. Ebooks are also coming to the Windows Store and will use the Edge browser for display. Microsoft also announced its Surface Book and Surface Studio will go on sale in more markets April 20. https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/29/microsofts-windows-10-creators-update-will-launch-april-11/
Uber announced its fleet of autonomous cars in San Francisco. Pittsburgh, and Arizona has resumed operations. Saturday one of Uber’s Volvo XC90s was involved in a high-speed collision in Tempe. Tempe police reported that the Uber vehicle was not responsible for the accident, and that there were no reported injuries. The incident was caused when another vehicle failed to yield, causing the autonomous vehicle to flip on its side. https://www.recode.net/2017/3/27/15077386/uber-self-driving-autonomous-cars-resume-testing-crash-collision-arizona
Facebook Stories is now available on Facebook itself not just through Facebook Messenger. Stories live above the news feed for 24 hours after posting and you can chose to share a story directly into your Timeline and News Feed. You can also share a stories post privately with a “direct” feature. Posts can be stills or video and use filter effects. The Facebook app now has a dedicated camera button. https://thenextweb.com/facebook/2017/03/28/facebook-brings-stories-everyone-completes-snapchat-cloning-program/#.tnw_hdKonuBC
-- http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/03/more-ways-to-share-with-the-facebook-camera/
Uber announced that it will withdraw service from Denmark on April 18th. The move comes in response to a new taxi law introduced in February, which would require drivers to have fare meters and seat sensors in all vehicles. Denmark has 2,000 Uber drivers and roughly 300,000 riders use Uber. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-tech-denmark-idUSKBN16Z10G
The Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence will launch in Toronto Thursday. It will research deep learning and applications for AI. Funding will come from the Canadian and Ontario governments along with 30 businesses including Alphabet and RBC. Banking exec Ed Clark will head the institute and Geoff Hinton will work as the institute’s chief scientific adviser. Thomson Reuters and General Motors both recently moved AI labs to Toronto and RBC opened its own machine learning lab there. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39425862
Twitter is surveying people to see if they would be interested in paying for premium features in TweetDeck. The premium version could include advanced analytics, alerts, and information on followers. Twitter confirmed the survey to Casey Newton at The Verge and a source said Twitter has not yet begun to build the service. http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/23/15043422/twitter-subscription-service-tweetdeck-survey
According to an email sent to GSuite admins, Google will remove text messaging from the Hangouts app starting May 22nd. Starting March 27, users of the Hangouts app will be prompted to chose another text messaging app on Android. http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/23/15045086/google-hangouts-sms-messaging-removed
The U.S. Commerce Department will remove China's ZTE from a trade blacklist after the company admitted to violating sanctions on Iran http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-zte-idUSKBN16Z2O4
NBC announced it will broadcast all of its 2018 Olympics coverage live, no more delayed prime time broadcasts on the west coast. http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/28/15098364/nbc-tape-delay-winter-olympics-2018-live-broadcast-pyeongchang
Apple began taking orders for its new 9.7-inch iPad and Red iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models Friday. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/24/new-ipad-productred-iphone-7-orders-begin/
Google announced that Google Home and Google Wifi will launch in the UK on April 6th. Both will be available for £129 each, and a 2-pack of Google Wifi will run £229. http://www.androidcentral.com/google-home-launches-uk
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