Poll: Would you switch telecom providers for privacy?

#1

Post by itistoday » Wed, Mar 30, 2011, 2:09 AM UTC

By now it's established fact that your cell-service provider keeps a log of where you are and what you say, 24 hours a day, and this information will probably be retained by the NSA for a long time.

Some think we're getting dangerously close to 1984. If, say, Sprint were to start a campaign with slogans like "We don't spy on you", would that entice you to switch to such a provider?

Relevant links:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/what-location-tracking-looks

https://www.eff.org/issues/nsa-spying

Re: Poll: Would you switch telecom providers for privacy?

#2

Post by wmf » Wed, Mar 30, 2011, 2:30 AM UTC

It seems like any company can be legally forced into spying on you, and if that isn't already the case then they can always pass another law to make it so. Thus any such promise would be essentially toothless. Probably the strongest thing they could say would be "we only spy on you to the exact extent required by law, but by law we can't even tell you what that extent is".

http://www.aclu.org/national-security/doe-v-holder

Re: Poll: Would you switch telecom providers for privacy?

#3

Post by itistoday » Wed, Mar 30, 2011, 2:47 AM UTC

wmf wrote: post #2

It seems like any company can be legally forced into spying on you, and if that isn't already the case then they can always pass another law to make it so. Thus any such promise would be essentially toothless. Probably the strongest thing they could say would be "we only spy on you to the exact extent required by law, but by law we can't even tell you what that extent is". http://www.aclu.org/national-security/doe-v-…

OK, but the link seemed to have a happy ending, so I'm not sure if what you're saying is still true:

As a result of a settlement in the case, the FBI lifts the gag on Nick Merrill, the ACLU's client and the first NSL recipient to challenge the records demand.

Re: Poll: Would you switch telecom providers for privacy?

#4

Post by sixtofour » Wed, Mar 30, 2011, 2:53 AM UTC

Yeah, maybe. But how would I know it wasn't just a thin veneer of marketing?