How To Browse Privately After Congress Nixed FCC Protections

[esco_sid]

Hm iv been doing a lot of this for awhile now
Google fiber
PIA VPN
Different DNS
chrome addons: ghostery, adblock, adblock for youtube.

 

[Hdar08]

Lol. The FCC has no jurisdiction over consumer privacy, that would fall under the Federal Trade Commission. Do some research before you write a misleading article.

 

[firefoxx04]

Toms, you need to get your act together and secure the site. Sure login pages are secure but the rest is not.

Some may find this a non-issue, however, it is VERY easy to perform a man in the middle attack on http sites.. injecting all sorts of crap before it hits the clients browser.

Why post articles that make yourself look bad? Is anyone even paying attention?


Lastly, I am very happy to see there is no auto-playing video in the article. I refuse to read those pages, and will simply google the topic and give someone else a page view.

 

[leoscott]

Their first recommendation is to use HTTPS and the page is only HTTP. LOL

 

[grimfox]

Lol. The FCC has no jurisdiction over consumer privacy, that would fall under the Federal Trade Commission. Do some research before you write a misleading article.

The trouble here is that the FTC can not regulate ISP activity as they are common carriers under net neutrality laws. Basically there is no one protecting consumers rights/privacy when it comes to ISPs right now. For the FTC to enforce privacy rules on the ISPs you have to remove net neutrality laws and delist ISPs as common carriers. Which is a whole other problem. Don't like using Comcast video service? With net neutrality gone, too bad. Comcast can legally block/throttle all other video services. For that matter they can block any service they want. If your local ISP decides that porn or gambling or kittens are the devil, they could block that content. While the FTC would then be able to enforce privacy laws, the privacy laws in their current state would only require that ISPs give you the option to opt-out of tracking. Which, as Tom's stated, can be a difficult circuitous path.

edit: typo.

 

[Jake Hall]

How about PureVPN?

 

[Daekar3]

Would be nice to see the FTC pick up the regulation of these things as is legally called for rather than the FCC, who really shouldn't have been messing with them.

 

[beayn]

Anonymous said:
"Major internet providers say will not sell customer browsing histories"

That is just virtue signalling against Trump, using the outrage machine to try to make themselves look anti-Trump. Once it calms down, they will all quietly change their rules and begin selling the data. They can't resist making extra money. Those laws were in place for good reason - because that's exactly what companies jump at the chance of doing.

 

[MoreFreedomIsBetter]

The problem isn't a lack of legislation. The problem isn't cronyism, or Trumpism, or whatever other -ism that makes people feel good because they've used one word to make themselves feel better. The problem - and you can see it across the spectrum in America - is that people don't care.
Let's not gloss over when these rules came about that Congress just overturned. Have we been stopping ISP's from their evil deeds for years now, only to have the new administration overturn everything allowing for horribleism? Nope. These were rules initiated last fall, set to begin within 90 days after publication. Literally in place for weeks.
But ultimately, if people cared that their data was being used to sell them stuff (and let's call it what it is; they want to sell you stuff. Saying that they're tracking you sounds much more nefarious - they want to track you so they can try to sell you stuff), then we'd have Capitalist solutions popping up. Why? Because companies want to make money - that's part of capitalism – they sell your data because it makes them money – they’ll not sell your data if that would make them money. If it was a big deal to people, you could draw business away from "tracking" ISP's and toward "non-tracking" ones. To prove that, there are solutions out there that can be purchased that stop "tracking". But most people don't care enough to fork out cash so those solutions (some good, some not) remain niche. The argument will be that "they're monopolies - just like my power company". This is bogus and insults your intelligence. Ten years ago? Maybe. I live in the middle of nowhere Idaho and I can get at least 3 different dish ISP solutions. When I lived in the city, I had Verizon fiber options as well as 2 other large ISP's vying for my cash. The "The ISP's must be regulated like a municipal water company" cry is a progressive big government pile of - well, you know.
We have enough laws, IMHO. Regardless of the party in power, our laws should uphold Constitutional rights and stop right there. Do we have a constitutional right to not have McDonalds give us a receipt with a coupon for 10% off red shirts from Old Navy because they noticed that we were wearing a red shirt when we ordered our Big Mac? No. Would it be creepy that they're scanning the color of everyone's shirts that enter the store. Yes. Would I go to a more expensive sandwich shop that didn't try to get my information? That's my preferred solution - not some nebulous law that tells private fast food chains what they can see and say about people who walk into their business. Same goes for my ISP. If there should be outrage, it isn’t about what the companies collect. Just sayin. The one’s being relied on to “fix” the problem have just a bit more of your info than what the ISP’s are grabbing. Talked on the phone ever?

 

[Matt_207]

ya toms get https, lets encrypt is an easy install.

 

[sr105]

I'm not sure having your own equipment really protects you as much as you think. When I plugged in my new privately-owned cable modem, the very first thing that happened was an automatic firmware upgrade from the cable company.

 

[popatim]

Yeah, you needed to configure it first and turn that off.