Recent government reports have made it clear that the top ISPs in the United States spy on their customers and collect massive troves of customer data. They can then turn around and sell it to anyone they’d like! Learn about the ways that your ISP steals your data and how to stop them.
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How ISPs Spy On You
A bombshell report from the FTC details ISP data collection practices and how they can be harmful for the consumer. The FTC compiled information from the six largest ISPs in the country, and found that ISPs invade customer privacy in multiple ways.
ISPs Collect Huge Pools of Sensitive Customer Data
While ISPs usually claim that they only collect data required to provide their customers with internet access, that seems to not be the case. The report found that ISPs collect extensive information about their consumers, including sensitive demographic information, that went beyond the scope of providing internet service.
On top of that, many ISPs are part of much larger companies that also provide other services for consumers. In fact, the FTC found that some of these companies share sensitive information about consumers with other arms of the parent company, including for advertising purposes. So, when you add together all of the information they collect from your smartwatch, your IoT devices, your search history, they have a very specific profile of you, their customer. They then turn around and sell that data to third parties.
Your ISP Collects Data You Would Not Expect
Some ISPs keep a log of your browsing history in order to create an advertising profile for each of their customers. On top of that, you may not realize that many ISPs keep track of your television viewing history.
Another thing many people don’t expect is that some ISPs track you across all of your devices. As a result, users’ actions on one device can affect their ad experience on another device. For example, users who previously searched for sensitive or intimate videos on another device could receive highly-targeted ads on their work computer. Another facet is purchase history, which could be used for ads across devices as well, exposing personal shopping habits.
ISPs Collect Your Location Information in Real-Time
The report also says that many ISPs in their study aggregated and sold the real-time location of their users to third parties. Much of that information ended up in the hands of “car salesmen, property managers, bail bondsmen, bounty hunters, and others without reasonable protection.” The implications of this are frightening.
How the Privacy Choices Offered by ISPs Trick You
Another observation in the FTC report was that the privacy choices were often “illusory” and were meant to trick or confuse the user. Surely, you’ve come across some of these examples yourself. For example, they grey out the reject option when they present you with privacy choices.
Another is burying privacy choices behind a multitude of menus, in an attempt to confuse you into picking an option you don’t want. And who hasn’t been bugged by the tactic of being prompted over and over again if you don’t agree to being tracked?
Want More Information On The Report?
For those looking to dig into even more details, the FTC published their findings on their site.
Use a VPN to Hide Your Data and Information From Your ISP!
Using a good VPN is a great start to protecting your data. Your network traffic will be encrypted and sent through a tunnel directly to your VPN provider, cutting off your ISP from spying, collecting, and selling your data. They won’t know what sites you visit, what you download, or what you buy! Don’t let your ISP create a digital profile of you that they can sell to advertisers with one of these great VPNs today!
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Use a FlashRouter to Get Every Device on Your VPN
Setting up a VPN on every device you own, such as smartwatches, smart thermostats, ring doorbells, Smart TVs, and everything else that goes online can be a huge hassle. Not only do you have to set them up one by one, but many of them also don’t even have native VPN capability.
Thankfully, using a FlashRouter will create a VPN-enabled Wi-Fi network covering all of your devices! Once you set your router up with your VPN provider one time, every device that connects to your network will automatically get VPN protection! Encrypt and hide all of your data and information from your ISP with a FlashRouter!
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