Now You Have to Pay AT&T $700 A Year Not To Spy On You

[Veilex]

Soon if you value your privacy at all, you'll have to pay for it.

If you have AT&’s gigabit Internet service and wonder why it seems so affordable, here's the reason—AT&T is boosting profits by rerouting all your Web browsing to an in-house traffic scanning platform, analyzing your Internet habits, then using the results to deliver personalized ads to the websites you visit, e-mail to your inbox, and junk mail to your front door.
Signing up for AT&T's "GigaPower" fiber-to-home service automatically "opts you in" to AT&T's ironically titled "Internet Preferences" program. As detailed by Jon Brodkin in the ArsTechnica article linked above, this default "opt-in" gives the company "permission" to scan every aspect of your web use, essentially tracking your keystrokes for every site that you visit. The "service" operates independent of your browser's privacy settings. You have to pay between $30-60 a month (depending on whether you've included phone service in your plan), or up to $744 dollars a year to extricate yourself from AT&T's pitiless gaze:

AT&T says Internet Preferences tracks "the webpages you visit, the time you spend on each, the links or ads you see and follow, and the search terms you enter.”
AT&T charges at least another $29 a month ($99 total) to provide standalone Internet service that doesn’t perform this extra scanning of your Web traffic. The privacy fee can balloon to more than $60 for bundles including TV or phone service. Certain modem rental and installation fees also apply only to service plans without Internet Preferences.
AT&T says this "tracking" assists their advertisers in serving up targeted ads based on each user's personal "preferences." These include web-based and ads that arrive in both your email and snail mailboxes (and presumably ads from telemarketers as well). The ads include not only the services of the advertisers, but ads from businesses either in proximity to certain locations (such as travel destinations) or with a peripheral relationship to the ad you may have "visited."

AT&T contends it "informs" its customers of the web scanning in its promotional materials relating to "GigaPower." As shown in the article (which contains a slideshow closely analyzing AT&T's ads for "GigaPower&quot , the language informing the clueless purchaser that he/she is forever forfeiting his privacy is not provided to the recipient until several clicks in to the promotion. The user is then subliminally "urged" to purchase the service that includes the surveillance/tracking, as the interface emphasizes the lower price if he does, emphasizes the higher prices if he doesn't, and also forces the user to re-do the entire process if he doesn't want the tracking service imposed on him. There are additional incentives such as a three-year price guarantee if one "opts" to allow himself to be tracked. In other words, the process is quite deliberate and geared to force the purchaser into agreeing.

*snip*

Currently limited to specific metropolitan markets in Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri, for example, AT&T plans to expand its marketing of "GigaPower" services to "dozens" of major cities in the near future.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/28/1373947/-Now-You-Have-to-Pay-AT-T-700-A-Year-Not-To-Spy-On-You?detail=facebook_sf

[alc]

1. I could pay Kroger $100s/year to not spy on me.

I save $10-$20/week by using my Kroger card. They're more than willing to sell me the same thing for more money and not record my purchases and give me coupons that I will actually use. Or I can go to Publix and pay about $10-$20/week more to a company that doesn't keep track (at least not in the same way). I'll let Kroger spy on me for the savings unless I find out they are using the information in a way I don't like.

There are certainly some bad potentials for what AT&T (and Kroger) are doing? But the problems (IMO) are how they use the data, not that they collect it.

[yeoman6987]

5. I only shop at Publix and it has everything to do with that dumb card and of course their quality of

Of food is superior to all. In fact my 2014 Christmas party at my home was completely publix party platters for under a thousand bucks. Not horrible prices at all. That included 3 cases of various wines. Beer, bottled water and soda also included. You cannot go wrong with Publix.

[VScott]

14. I use a false name and address on all mine.

[SomethingFishy]

17. +1.. Kroeger doesn't even make you fill out the info

they will just give you the card if you ask for it..

[AZ Progressive]

2. Good luck trying to prevent anyone from spying on you

You'd have to run through VPNs all the time (free ones are slow, I don't know about the paid ones.) If you use Firefox and get the lightbeam add-on, you can see who is tracking you.

[VScott]

13. I use PIA

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/

Only $40.00 per year and it's paid for itself many times over (compared to what a DMCA judgment would cost
me )

They have roughly 30 gateways all over the world. Never had any problems no matter where I connect.

[hollysmom]

3. Well, they got that practice by charging you to not list your number in a phone book where listing

cost them process/money. heh, I did that one summer - listed people in the book, 5 carbon copies. And charging you to have touch tone dialing - the time spend rotary dialing, cost them connection time/money. heh. I fought them for years on switching me to touch tone and them charging me a dollar a month when I did not request that, finally told them I would take them to small claims court and ask damages for the time spent on the phone talking to them at a rate of 100 an hour and minimum charge 100 per call.

I didn't mind if they gave me touch tone, but I did not want to be charged for it.

[Romeo.lima333]

4. yup freedom isnt free.

their standard quoted charge includes money from other companies who want to sell you ads . you dont wanna be tracked they cant sell your habits therefore no discount for you

[randome]

6. Well, you don't 'have' to pay a dime to AT&T. The article title is a bit hyperbolic.

If AT&T wants to market their services that way, I'd say it's their choice and that most people who want super-fast Internet service will be glad to sign up.

It sounds tasteless but then I don't need nor want that service so it's not for me.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Give yourself the same benefit of a doubt you'd give anyone else. It's only fair.[/center][/font][hr]

[awoke_in_2003]

16. And you think the other providers...

won't jump on board? Hell, most areas have zero competition. If I want just regular DSL my choice is ATT. If I want their faster UVerse, well that is ATT. I currently have cable internet. I have the choice of one provider- Charter.

[Rex]

7. LOL! Like they would quit spying on you for 700 bucks!

What a pantsload. I feel sorry for any sucker that buys into this.

[FSogol]

11. Someone who is willing to pay me $700 is the kind of person, I'd spy on!

And for $1400, I'd double-spy on them

[Rex]

12. HA! Good one!

Filter out all the harmless ones and spy on the ones that maybe felt they had something to hide? And since they are already suckers, it just might work!

Brilliant FSogol!

[FSogol]

15. Isn't that how the much-loved libertarian network TOR works?

[hobbit709]

8. It also wants access to your hard drive. FUCK THAT!

[Blue_Tires]

9. kick

Interesting to see this on DKos instead of that *other* privacy news outlet...

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. kick

[woo me with science]

18. K&R