clickie
join:2005-05-22
Monroe, MI
| Ugh!
Whether or not your credit card company does this isn't the issue, the issue is that you have no way to opt out of it (like you do with your credit card company) because the opt-out system is poorly constructed and intended to eliminate other privacy methods.
Opting-out on Charter's web site only stops the targeted ads, it doesn't stop the data collection. And what's bad about that is that these people will be peeking into packets that may be covered by other privacy statutes, like HPPA. Simply saying "we ignore packets that might contain sensitive medical information" does not give immunity to Charter or Nebuad because they've already looked at it. And as more and more insurance and health care providers put medical information and claims forms online, this is a serious problem for Nebuad.
The other issue is that while Nebuad seems to be taking the privacy high-road in making one-way hashes of your MAC address and seemingly assuring your privacy, I doubt that will last for long. Charter does not provide any personally identifying information, but if you buy something from one of the people who use Nebuad's system, then *they know who you are*. And you can bet your sweet bippy that information along with your one-way hash will be shared, sold and traded to the highest bidder. Let's face it, the whole purpose of Nebuad is to get you to buy something. And when you do, they know who you are and will use that information for further targeting.
It's nice Charter wants to keep the finances rolling in, but I don't think this concept was thought through very carefully by its management and the impact it can have on customer privacy. Sure, Charter isn't coughing up personally identifiable information, but that doesn't mean that over time it isn't going to be collected over time by Nebuad, its successors, affiliates, partners and wanna-bes. |
