Privacy protections designed to prevent U.S. internet service providers from sharing or selling subscribers’ personal information with third parties — without permission — were dismantled by U.S. Congress on Tuesday.

It means that information about the apps American internet subscribers use, the websites they visit, and the things they purchase online — among other things — can potentially be tracked, shared, and monetized by third parties, unless those users opt out.

You might be pleased to learn that Canada, which often follows the U.S. lead on technology issues, has taken a different approach. Here, internet service providers can only share your personal information with third parties with your express consent.

Source: CBC News

Date: April 4th, 2017

Link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/us-fcc-internet-privacy-legislation-marketing-ads-canada-1.4046512

Discussion

1) “Even earlier, in 2009, the CRTC reviewed the internet traffic management practices of Canadian ISPs — the hardware and software ISPs use to track and manage how customers are using the network, for the ISPs’ own business purposes.”   What sort of things would legitimately enable an ISP to manage the network?

2) “Even though Canadian ISPs can’t share personal information with third parties without your consent, it doesn’t mean they’re not sharing any data at all.   Rogers, Bell and Telus, for example, say they may share de-identified information — data that has been stripped of personal information — with third parties, without your consent.”  The article then mentions that it is quite possible to re-identify you using other data.  How might this work?