IP: Comcast backs off privacy issue

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Wong, Brian" <brianwong () dwt com>
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 15:32:57 -0800
To: "'Farber, Dave'" <farber () cis upenn edu>
Subject: Comcast backs off privacy issue

Dave, here's an update on the Comcast man in the middle caching software.

- Brian -

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-836937.html

Comcast privacy move its latest woe

By Stefanie Olsen  <mailto:stefanieo () cnet com>and Rachel Konrad
<mailto:rachelk () cnet com>
Staff Writers, CNET News.com
February 13, 2002, 12:35 PM PT

update Comcast's decision under fire Wednesday to stop storing Web users'
data is only the latest dust-up for the cable company that's struggling to
move customers onto its new network after the Excite@Home bankruptcy.

The cable giant's latest problem stemmed from reports Tuesday that it had
installed software that compiled detailed records of its customers' Web
usage. The software--part of a newly built high-speed Internet service
created since the Excite@Home bankruptcy--was apparently intended to speed
service and cut costs by "caching," or preloading, sites most requested by
its customers. 

Stephen Burke, president of Comcast's cable division, said Wednesday that
the company began storing people's Internet Protocol and URL information six
weeks ago when it set up its new network.
    
"This information has never been connected to individual subscribers and has
been purged automatically to protect subscriber privacy," Burke said.
"Beginning immediately, we will stop storing this individual customer
information in order to completely reassure our customers that the privacy
of their information is secure."

Although caching procedures are common among Internet service providers,
with data collected usually appearing in aggregate, civil libertarians and
angry customers denounced Comcast for storing the data.

The data could be subject to subpoena by the government or by parties in
civil litigation, said David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic
Privacy Information Center <http://www.eff.org/>. Even if Comcast doesn't
use the data, it might be forced to turn it over to someone else.

"The question is who else will have access to the information once it's
archived and maintained," Sobel said. "That's something that Comcast,
regardless of what they might believe or say, will not have control over."

The conflict between privacy rights and security issues has come under
renewed scrutiny since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Last year, the U.S.
Senate approved a bill that would give the government greater liberty to use
surveillance technology, including Internet wiretaps, to combat terrorism.

Privacy compromised?
News of the data tracking this week had some concerned Comcast subscribers
considering whether to continue with the service. David Zatz, an engineer
from the Washington, D.C., area, said he would drop his Comcast service if
the company continued to monitor his Web use in this way.

"I felt very uneasy that this was going to be going on, and there was no
policy where we were going to be informed about it," he said. "If it goes
through and they continue to do (this) I definitely will be switching. In my
case, Comcast is my only option for broadband, but I'm not going to put up
with that. I'll revert back to 56K."

Comcast stressed that consumers' privacy has not been breached.

"Comcast respects the privacy of all our subscribers and is committed to
fully (protecting) their rights," Burke said. "Comcast has not shared and
will not share personal information about where our subscribers go on the
Web, either for any internal purpose or with any outside party, except as
required by law. 

"Consistent with our subscriber agreement and our privacy policy, which
every subscriber acknowledges before receiving our service, Comcast reviews
information in aggregate form only for purposes of network performance
management to ensure an optimal Internet network experience for our
subscribers," he added.

Civil libertarians were quick to point out the contradiction in Comcast's
statement but were pleased with its promise to stop storing data.

"Either they were collecting (private) data or they weren't," Sobol said.
"Aside from that, pending clarification, if Comcast was saying it was
engaging in the unnecessary collection of consumer data and now they are no
longer doing that, it's obviously a positive development that reflects the
sensitivity that users have when this kind of activity is made known."

Sobol said that if Comcast had been collecting sensitive data on consumers,
the company might have violated the Communications Act, legislation that
governs the activities of cable companies in the United States. Because
subscribers were not notified of the company's alleged data-gathering
practices, Comcast may have violated a privacy provision in the Act that
requires cable companies to obtain permission from consumers before
collecting personal information, he said.

As a result, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., sent a letter to Comcast on
Wednesday asking whether the cable company used its facilities to gather
personal data from consumers online. The letter cited the general
requirement of cable operators to gain "prior written or electronic consent"
to use any personal data collected through customers' use of a cable
service." 

"I have concerns about the allegations raised in (recent news) reports and
the nature and extent of any transgressions of the law that may have
resulted in consumer privacy being compromised," stated the letter from
Markey, who belongs to the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the
Internet. 

Markey's office said it was pleased with Comcast's decision to stop
gathering data. 

Comcast has faced a range of thorny issues as a result of the Excite@Home
bankruptcy. Excite@Home, which provided the fiber-optic backbone for
customers whose cable modems were supplied by Comcast, Cox Communications,
AT&T and other providers, declared bankruptcy in September and is preparing
for a total shutdown Feb. 28.

The move hurt financially, with Comcast announcing last week that its
fourth-quarter cash flow fell 3 percent because of the one-time $140 million
cost of moving customers to its network. Last fall, Comcast agreed to pay
Excite@Home $160 million to keep its customers on the Excite@Home network
for three months while Comcast switched them over to its new network.

Missing Excite@Home
And customers are upset at the changes forced upon them by the switch, from
having to change their e-mail addresses to slower connections and higher
fees for the same level of previous service.

The transition from Excite@Home to Comcast and other cable partners' optical
backbones has not been smooth. Although Comcast customers haven't been
nearly as inconvenienced as many former Excite@Home customers--notably,
former AT&T customers--many say they're enduring slow or flaky connections.
Problems resulting from the Excite@Home collapse have become so widespread
that many are clamoring for government regulation </2009-1033-277317.html>
of the nascent broadband sector.

Former Excite@Home customers also worry that many benefits of Excite@Home
will disappear when the transition to Comcast, Cox and other cable partners
is complete at the end of the month. Few cable partners provide connections
as fast as Excite@Home provided, and many customers are grumbling
<http://news.com.com/2100-1033-276671.html> about connection speeds that are
roughly half of those offered by their former provider.

"I cannot, in all consciousness, pay the premium price that Comcast is
commanding for a crippled ISP," computer consultant and Comcast cable-modem
customer Eric Guy wrote in an e-mail. "I would expect to see many of
(Comcast's) current and future customers reconsidering their broadband
provider." 

Comcast has also angered small-business owners, telecommuters and others who
use their cable modem to connect to office networks using virtual private
network (VPN) software. Excite@Home allowed the more secure VPN access, but
Comcast does not. Customers can get it as a business service for $95 a month
instead of $39--an almost threefold increase that many small-business owners
and telecommuters are loath to pay.

Comcast has also upset subscribers by saying it will not provide access to
Usenet newsgroups, a sprawling bulletin board system where thousands of
groups, dedicated to every imaginable interest, trade everything from
technical information to copyrighted movie files.

News.com's Margaret Kane contributed to this report.





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