Are you using a VPN yet?

[Funky Ghost]

ISPs already have the data because everything you do is logged. If they now want to sell that data, all they need to do is write software to cull out the irrelevant parts, then sell the remaining "good stuff" to whoever wants to buy it. That's oversimplification but not too far off.

Ok.

How easy do you imagine that is? How expensive do you imagine that is. It's easy to say "cull the "irrelevant" stuff". Writing, and bug testing and implementing a program to do that ( after the long process of figuring out exactly what is "irrelevant" ) on varying platforms with varying O.S.'s.

That's just over simplification, and still nowhere near the difficulty those few words covey.

Knowledge might be power but money trumps all in the land of big business.


Folks squeal about this but put everything on front street on facebook who absolutely eeks every dime out of it's users info. It would make far more sense for ISPs to buy from facebook. No R&D, no updating software and a captive audience already being herded.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Comcast says 'trust us' to protect customers' browsing histories; Other laws still keep them private

"We do not sell our broadband customers' individual web browsing history," Comcast said in a blog post Friday. "We did not do it before the FCC's rules were adopted and we have no plans to do so."

Comcast also said that it complies with federal laws that include the Communications Act, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The Philadelphia company noted that state attorneys general can enforce privacy laws.

AT&T, in a blog post also on Friday, said the idea that repealing the rules "suddenly eliminated consumer privacy protections is just plain wrong."

 

[fdeck]

Ok.

How easy do you imagine that is? How expensive do you imagine that is. It's easy to say "cull the "irrelevant" stuff". Writing, and bug testing and implementing a program to do that ( after the long process of figuring out exactly what is "irrelevant" ) on varying platforms with varying O.S.'s.

That's just over simplification, and still nowhere near the difficulty those few words covey.

I wouldn't have said "irrelevant." It would be more accurate to say that the data have to be stripped of anything that is "personally identifiable" such as your name. That's easy because the IP header doesn't contain your name. The ISP associates it with your account in their records, but can only share a portion of the data. It's a well defined data structure that should be easy to manipulate. And so there's really nothing to figure out.

Knowledge might be power but money trumps all in the land of big business.

Indeed, a lot of money is flowing into the advertising technology that creates demand for your personal data.

History shows that "this can't be real because it's too big for computers" is a risky assumption.

Folks squeal about this but put everything on front street on facebook who absolutely eeks every dime out of it's users info. It would make far more sense for ISPs to buy from facebook. No R&D, no updating software and a captive audience already being herded.

I'm not on Facebook. You have to decide for yourself what info you're comfortable sharing. I'd prefer if it were possible for that to be an informed decision. In the case of ISP's, it's hard for a consumer to decide because ISP's have monopoly power in a lot of regions.

 

[catcauphonic]

This article succinctly explains some of the potential down sides of this new legislation >

Invalid Link Removed

 

[somebrains]

VPN connection is required to access anything in our data center.
You IP and MAC from your issued device are known and explicitly allowed, anything else no.
I require that users assume a role mapped to their work group(s).

This was SOP for the ISP I built VMware clusters for.
It's SOP about everywhere I've worked, and if it wasn't I changed the run book.
If you are using any ISP supplied hardware, well...don't.

Contrary to popular belief just because you can remote to a proxy box doesn't mean anything. We require a VPN bc no credentials or code is going to be broadcast in the clear. Whether or not the juvenile kids the Network Admin is saddled with bothers to see when a customer is on Pornhub or pulling torrents is a different story.

Try a Tor browser instead.

 

[mrpackerguy]

Not affiliated or promoting in any way, but some good reads in the comments about VPNs in general Invalid Link Removed

 

[MattZilla]

Tor?

Bringing up the dead as I've got some over half-decade old expensive work/school-related software that I'd like to try to use again to relearn the basics and downloading a keygen like it's 2004 would be pretty helpful. In my path VPNs got recommended in sort of an advertiser/spammy way.

Anyone got any recommendations beyond "move in with family to save up all of your salary for a year and just buy the current versions"?

 

[fdeck]

Bringing up the dead as I've got some over half-decade old expensive work/school-related software that I'd like to try to use again to relearn the basics and downloading a keygen like it's 2004 would be pretty helpful. In my path VPNs got recommended in sort of an advertiser/spammy way.

Anyone got any recommendations beyond "move in with family to save up all of your salary for a year and just buy the current versions"?

Switch to free software. This has actually happened in my field. Even people who can afford a license through their employer or college, are learning to use the free stuff so they won't be tethered to an expensive license if they want to do something on their own later on. And if, as you say, you're relearning the basics, it might be just as easy to start out on a different program.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Switch to free software. This has actually happened in my field. Even people who can afford a license through their employer or college, are learning to use the free stuff so they won't be tethered to an expensive license if they want to do something on their own later on. And if, as you say, you're relearning the basics, it might be just as easy to start out on a different program.

The flip side of this is many employers are specifically looking for candidates skilled with apps like Excel and SQL Server. A candidate who is adept at Open Office may be perceived to have lesser (or no) value to them.

 

[fdeck]

The flip side of this is many employers are specifically looking for candidates skilled with apps like Excel and SQL Server. A candidate who is adept at Open Office may be perceived to have lesser (or no) value to them.

That's definitely a good point, and it depends on the specific field and industry that you're in. A good rule of thumb is whether a free tool solves a business problem other than cost. Also, you can see if there are job openings for it. Probably not Open Office, but there are certainly some open source tools that have risen to front-runner status in commercial use. For instance I've been using Python for scientific computation, for several years.

 

[mrpackerguy]

So other than Hole any other recommendations