Is Your ISP Spying On You?
While it has long been suspected that ISP were able to spy on their customers and collect data about their internet usage, it seems that a number of surfers around the world have actually caught their ISPs in the act. So what are the regulations?
The regulations for internet usage are very much stacked in favour of the ISPs and the companies whom they sell your data on to. So long as the data is not able to identify the person or persons using the system then many in the industry claim that this does not break any regulations or any laws. However, there is a growing ground swell of opinion which suggests that the surfing information which the ISPs collect from you can actually be traced directly back to you, and they can see who you are.
Not only is this deemed illegal in many countries of the world, but it opens up internet surfers to fraud and blackmail. There is also the chance that the Police may well decide to use the ISP option in the future in order to track suspects ? whether they are guilty of crimes or not.
While there is no person in their right mind who would argue against using the internet to find those who commit a range of heinous crimes, we are slowly seeing our privacy eroded and left open to abuse. Just lately we have seen local councils in the UK charged with using laws which were designed to protect us from terrorists, to follow and monitor people accused of ?crimes? such as dropping litter via CCTV cameras.
If the local councils of the UK are happy to ?piggyback? the use of CCTV cameras for ?other ? uses, then what is to stop them hacking into your computer and checking your surfing habits without your knowledge?
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