Do ISPs have too much of our information?

One of the agreements between ISPs and customers is the amount of information your internet provider has access to.

In addition to your name, ID number, and contact details, they also have a “uniquely detailed, comprehensive view of you and every other subscriber”.

To make matters worse, you are essentially powerless to limit the data your ISP collects about you.

While you may, in some instances, defend yourself against tracking by websites and apps by disallowing cookies or turning on “Do Not Track” in your browser settings, in many cases there is no way to protect against ISP tracking except by avoiding the internet altogether.

This doesn’t automatically equate to nefariously spying on customers or even being directly tracked, but it does allow for it and more business-oriented tasks like targeted advertising.

The issue is currently hotly debated in the United States, with the FCC having recently proposed a rule to seek opt-in consent from customers before using data collected for purposes other than to provide service.

As it stands however, internet users need to recognise that nothing they say or do on the internet is completely private.

Do you use a VPN or other methods to ensure privacy on the internet? Let us know in the comments below and in our forums.