We Should Be More Worried About Our ISPs Than Google When It Comes To Abuse
Date : 16 Sep 2008 Category : Business
Techdirt
With the government gearing up to potentially go after Google for antitrust violations, we're seeing all sorts of press coverage of stories about how Google may be abusing its position, from supposedly hurting companies to potentially having too much insight into your web surfing activities. And, no one's gloating over this turn of events more than some of the broadband providers, who often find themselves at odds with Google over issues such as net neutrality, patent reform and other issues. Yet, as some new research is suggesting, it's odd that there's so much of a spotlight focused on Google, when those same ISPs are a much bigger privacy threat. They have a lot more visibility into our online activities, a lot more control over what users do, and (unlike Google) it's a lot more difficult to route around them. Plus, many have shown that they have no problems selling your private data -- sometimes without letting you know. So, why is all the attention focused on Google? If it's abusing our privacy, then it's easy to switch to a competitor. Broadband ISPs, on the other hand, have a lot more control and visibility -- and a much tighter grip on customers, usually with fewer competitive options. Yet, the government rolls over backwards to let these ISPs do what they want, while it prepares an antitrust lawsuit against Google?
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