Well, while the article is about the mobile carriers obtaining info from customers, ISPs could very well be doing the same thing and obtaining the same information so unless you are using secure connections all over the board, the same worries are there.
John, I wonder if there are grounds for litigating this. Might be fun. Might even win you a settlement if the vendor isn't sure and doesn't want a class action.
I am not an attorney and this is probably not even good advice.
Sure, I could use my tech skills to get around their idiocy, that would be the simple way, but then they could just continue the idiocy, leaving millions in the same boat they're in now. Will all the users of my networks be on board with the idea of turning their brand new toy over to me to root/jail break? Would they be satisfied with the fact that the minute I root/jail break their shiny new toy, their warranty become invalid?
No, the much better fight is the one where you push until you cause change, until you move the object you're pushing against. And, you do that by making a lot of noise. By being the thorn in their side. And, by doing the same with lawmakers.
I can't say I rant & rave at the telco but I don't get my phones through them, anymore. I get my phone elsewhere and if it's an Android phone, I 'jail-break' it so I can root it for superuser privileges and then I can get rid of the crapware. I really don't worry too much about data usage as I have a data plan that is unlimited. It's the principle of the thing. Why should I have to put up with crap on my phone that I don't want, don't need and better yet, didn't install? My answer? I don't, so I won't.
I know jailbreaking phones isn't for everyone, but it is an option to think about.
Here's where I draw the line between worried and...ecstatic.
If it's some evil entity, and he alone, watching me...well, then of course I would be worried!
But -- suppose the whole world were watching...each other!
Imagine a global village where every child could be tracked...where every missing person's last movements could be made public.
Imagine where someone who was using the right of Free Speech could be watched by everyone to make sure nothing happened to them.
Imagine if you could pinpoint where the crooks and recidivists are.
I want to know these things, and in some cases I want others to know about me.
Or how about more prosaic stuff...say, an Alcohol Anonymous group that tracks everyone to make sure they never go to a bar or liquor store. Or a Weight Watchers group.
The anomie of our society is in part causes by a very modern isolation and "privacy". Yes, privacy has its benefits, but I wonder if we take it too far. In fact, doesn't the drive to broadcast our lives on social media indicate so?
You've touched on a very sore spot, and the cause of an ongoing battle with my cell provider. It's my phone. I own it. Lock, stock and bit. I paid for it. It's my property. How DARE you fix it so I can't remove what I don't want?
I've been an exceptionally squeeky wheel on this one for well over a year. Any time I'm bored, and have enough time, I call or e-mail, complaining and berating.
Now, if a few million more folks would do the same...
Precisely. Some of the pre-installed apps require internet and if you don't have a data plan, that's another fee/cost tacked on to your bill. How is that fair? I don't think Cellular providers should be able to put any software on phones. Period.
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Midsize businesses rarely achieve the same standards of security in their own datacenters as professional providers that specialize in delivering these services to organizations.
It was about 10 years ago when a new generation of software-as-a-service (SaaS) alternatives started to gain acceptance and adoption among organizations of all sizes. And it has only been about five years since Amazon Web Services captured the marketplace's attention with Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3, which opened the door to a vast array of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings. Now, the third piece of the cloud computing puzzle is beginning to win over organizations seeking to build their own apps: platform-as-a-service (PaaS).
Energy consumption is a primary contributor to global warming. At the end of 2012, 40 percent of energy consumption in the US came from commercial and residential buildings.
Big-data and analytics tools enable marketers to understand customers as individuals, identifying unmet needs and addressing each customer as a "segment of one," says John Kennedy, VP corporate marketing, IBM.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The IBM Smarter Commerce Global Summit in Monaco kicked into high gear today, and we've already begun to see news emerging from that lovely city-state by the sea.
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