If your ISP is selling info about you, that has to be opt-in, says FCC boss FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed new rules that would bring ISPs in line with general data privacy laws and give citizens the right to opt out of their personal information being shared commercially. Wheeler has put forward a proposed "notice of rulemaking" to the other FCC Commissioners, who will vote on it later this …
He ought to look at a whole range of areas where companies have the cheek to charge you for keeping your data private. Telephone numbers being one obvious thing - it should not cost me to have ex-directory status for my phone number. If anything, I should be able to charge them to publish it.
Tom Wheeler is rapidly becoming my favorite guy in Government. Looking at his history there is little there that would lead you to believe he would be consumer friendly - quite the opposite actually. But he's turned out to be one of the very few people in Government with the balls to go after big cable and big telco. They must absolutely hate him, which only makes me love him more.
I personally think everything should default to opt out, that way they will need your explicit permission to do anything with your data.
Many years ago I was ex-directory on BT and when they brought out a new feature called 1471 they included me, I complained and said why if I am ex-directory would I possibly want to be included in this new system that you have created called 1471, this means you are giving my number out when being on ex-directory means I don't want my number given out unless I specifically do it myself !
The woman on the end of the phone said well if we did that to all the people on ex-directory then probably no one would probably not opt in, "Exactly" I said but I think it went completely over her head.
I personally think everything should default to opt out, that way they will need your explicit permission to do anything with your data.
Language can be non-intuitive, can't it?
If something is described as "opt-in" that means you are "out" of it, unless you choose to opt in; if something is "opt-out" that means you are "in" it, unless you choose to opt out.
In this case, consumers should definitely want it to be "opt-in", as the man says, so that they will be out of it by default.
It is... but as I have found out, you can only use any of Googles latest features if you opt in.
So much so, my phone that was 99% offline and avoiding Google tracking, now needs me to "sign into Google, activate the tracking, enable calander" etc just to do most basic things. I knew they were after my data, but was happy to pick and choose where and when. Now they did a bait and switch, and half the features I was using now need me to login and be tracked, I'm rather angry (see pick).
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The way the FCC committee is designed, it is always 3-2 in favor of the party that controls the white house. So even though democrats have been in office for 7 years, it is still only 3-2, and even if the republicans take it back for 8 years it can only slide to 3-2 republican.
Um, I remember when the data in question for privacy policies was only what was needed. The question was whether we wanted to opt-out of it being shared with third parties.
Now the data is in question is all that can be collected. And now the question is how much revenue can be generated by sharing as much as possible.
Prior to the need for privacy policies, you worried about the gossipy drug store cashier.
"Now the data is in question is all that can be collected. And now the question is how much revenue can be generated by sharing as much as possible."
Because after the likes of Facebook and Google, people realize that what may look like junk may actually be worth its weight in platinum. It's just that no one REALIZES it yet. Better to have it on hand in case this realization dawns on you than to throw it out and regret learning of its value after the fact. In their view, holding everything costs less than the lost opportunity of throwing out something that turns out to be The Next Big Thing.
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