Michael Zimmer.org

information ethics : privacy : new media : values in design : 2.0

Your Clickstream Data: 40 cents; Losing Your Privacy: Priceless

Adam Fields points to this disturbing revelation that ISPs are apparently selling their customer’s clickstream data. The guilty ISPs apparently took the same “anonymization” seminar as AOL, merely replacing user names with User 1, User 2, etc.

And what kind of price are they charging for such a violation of user’s privacy? About 40 cents a month per user. Unbelievable.


UPDATE: The folks at 27B Stroke 6 have sent letters to the ten top ISPs asking whether they do collect and sell customer clickstream data. So far, Cox and AOL have responded, both indicated they do not sell such private information.

Related posts: (automatically generated)

  1. From Clickstream to Clickprint
  2. I want my Google Data Privacy
  3. How to triangulate location data, privacy and profit
  4. Google, Privacy International, and Data Retention
  5. Data Surveillance and Privacy Protection Workshop
  6. AOL Data Includes Social Security Numbers

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