A Look at What ISPs Know About You: Examining the Privacy Practices of Six Major Internet Service Providers
www.ftc.gov

cross-posted from: https://covert.nexus/post/27235

The FTC released a staff report in 2021 analyzing the privacy practices of six major U.S. Internet Service Providers. The report found that these ISPs collect as much, if not more, data on their customers’ browsing habits than popular advertisers like Google and Facebook. Additionally, some of these ISPs either operate their own advertising businesses or sell the data to third parties, such as the NSA.

  • Sunny' 🌻@slrpnk.net
    0·
    7 months ago

    Observations

    • Many ISPs in Our Study Amass Large Pools of Sensitive Consumer Data.
    • Several ISPs in Our Study Gather and Use Data in Ways Consumers Do Not Expect and Could Cause Them Harm.
    • Although Many ISPs in Our Study Purport to Offer Consumers Choices, These Choices are Often Illusory.
    • Many ISPs in Our Study Can be At Least As Privacy-Intrusive as Large Advertising Platforms.

    Oh how lovely…

    • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
      0·
      7 months ago

      And this is why you never ever use ISP DNS, run DNS over HTTPS in the browser, and always use encrypted networking.

      And use VPNs appropriate to the activity, when appropriate.

      Oh, and never turn on ISP-supplied WiFi, as that gives them full access to the traffic from every device on your LAN, what physical hardware you own, and even where it is located in your home (and when it leaves and comes back to your home).

      • inspxtr@lemmy.world
        0·
        7 months ago

        never turn on ISP-supplied WiFi

        maybe I’m missing something here, how do you get access to the internet for all devices (mobiles, laptops, …) without wifi then?

        • jacksilver@lemmy.world
          0·
          7 months ago

          You can get your own modem (what plugs into the wall) or your own wifi router (you’d plug this into the isp modem). Your own modem is better, but ISPs can give you grief about “supporting” them.