If you have Charter Internet: this one’s for you!

In case you haven’t been following the news about Charter, the company was doing a test run of a program that would spy on its customers as they used the internet. Charter customers here in San Luis Obispo County were chosen for part of the testing, which began in May. According to a SLOComment post from May 28:

Lucky San Luis Obispo! We have been selected as a test market for a new Charter Communications advertiser program that will employ technology that tracks and keeps records of everything their internet customers do on the internet.

Why? To provide an ENHANCED experience. (Oh, and to make money for themselves.)

Fortunately for all Charter customers, Charter scrapped the project in late June. Read an article about it at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Under Pressure, Charter Cable Drops Internet Snooping Plan

Or, better yet, head on over to check out the EFF’s article on this issue. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on civil liberties issues raised by new technologies. A kind of electronic ACLU, EFF “confront(s) cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. From the beginning, EFF has championed the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights.” After reading the article on Charter, wander around the EFF site and find out more than you probably want to about government and corporate invasions of individual privacy.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Charter has shown lack of respect for its customer’s privacy, and it surely won’t be the last. So if you are a Charter customer, don’t ignore notices about changes in the privacy policy and occassionally check Charters privacy policy online. You can opt out…but make sure you read the entire policy, since the opt out is not permanent.

AboutCambria.com takes online rights and responsibilities seriously. Read our privacy policy here.

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