Disservice Providers

How our personal data is getting bundled.

Our communication platforms are owned by big companies. Facebook, Instagram, X and others have provided us ways to connect with and talk to people around the world. Small companies have flourished because of them. All that is true. But let’s not forget that they’re businesses, and businesses are incentivized to make as much money as possible.

We mention this in the trailer for Season Two of the Technically Optimistic podcast, and we’ll also look at how platforms such as Facebook and Instagram track you even after you’ve left them in several of the episodes. I believe another word for this kind of activity is spying. (Good news: You can stop them from tracking you by changing your settings. PC magazine has a great primer.)

One thing we often overlook is what our ISPs — or internet service providers, such as Comcast, Cox, Verizon, AT&T and others — are doing with our information. It’s especially troubling as they become increasingly verticalized, not only providing us internet access, but also home security, mobile phones, television access, etc. Those convenient service bundles that we rely on all day are bundling our data in return.

Are you aware that these companies collect your internet, app and web browsing data and share it not only within the company, but also sell it to outside parties? Or that they collect sensitive data about you that they don’t even need in order to send you targeted ads? (Think information about your race, gender, sexual orientation, political affiliations and more.) Worse, some ISPs share your real-time location data with third-party customers. 

I learned this and more by reading the Federal Trade Commission’s 2021 staff report on what ISPs know about you. Needless to say, it was chilling. What’s even more disturbing is that it was published three years ago…and nothing has been done to stop or even slow these practices. Now throw the data-hungry large language models that power AI into the mix and this ability to feed that hunger for more personal information gets downright terrifying. Al

In January, the FTC issued a warning to tech companies that they’re obliged to stick to their privacy agreements when developing generative AI models. And OpenAI claims that it doesn’t seek out personal data for training. But expecting large companies to protect privacy without any laws in place is, as one professor recently told Axios, like telling sharks to please sit down and start using utensils. 

Okay, so what to do? In January, the Comcast-owned ISP Xfinity announced that it would allow customers to opt out of the collection of sensitive data. That’s definitely something to look into with your ISP — and to demand if you can’t opt out.

Encryption is another solution. First, check to see that you’re using an up-to-date web browser that doesn’t track your browsing history or cookies. As I wrote a few weeks ago, I use Firefox, which automatically blocks intrusive trackers, and I also recommend Brave.

Then make sure that all of your connections are via SSL. This creates an encrypted link between your browser and the server to keep hackers at bay. Almost all major web sites have SSL options, so make sure you connect via https instead of http. You can also enable HTTPS-only mode in your browser. (Most browsers are starting to do this by default, which is great.) 

Look, I’m not trying to make you scared, depressed or nihilistic. I fundamentally believe that we all need to understand the reality of acting on the internet, so that we can begin to approach it more safely. Small things, like using SSL or other encryption methods, doesn’t impact your experience, but it does protect you. Win-win.

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