Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Who Does Your Data Belong To?

There is no privacy left and your personal information does not belong to you...at least according to AT&T. According to the San Francisco Chronicle...

AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers' personal data with government officials.

The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."

The policy also indicates that AT&T will track the viewing habits of customers of its new video service -- something that cable and satellite providers are prohibited from doing.

Moreover, AT&T (formerly known as SBC) is requiring customers to agree to its updated privacy policy as a condition for service -- a new move that legal experts say will reduce customers' recourse for any future data sharing with government authorities or others.
Friday is a big day for AT&T. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is leading a class-action lawsuit against the telecom giant for allowing the National Security Agency warrantless access to its customers' emails and Internet browsing habits. Friday is the day that a federal judge in San Francisco will hear oral arguments on the government's motion to dismiss the case. The government is contending that the legalities (or illegalities) don't matter as much as the need to protect state secrets. AT&T is also believed to be involved in the president's illegal domestic spying program, allowing warrantless access to customers' phone calls and records.

The new watered-down privacy policy is AT&T's way to CYA...

"They're obviously trying to avoid a hornet's nest of consumer-protection lawsuits," said Chris Hoofnagle, a San Francisco privacy consultant and former senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

"They've written this new policy so broadly that they've given themselves maximum flexibility when it comes to disclosing customers' records," he said.
AT&T doesn't understand what the big deal is...

John Britton, an AT&T spokesman, denied that the updated privacy policy marks a shift in the company's approach to customers' info.

"We don't see this as anything new," he said. "Our goal was to make the policy easier to read and easier for customers to understand."

He acknowledged that there was no explicit requirement in the past that customers accept the privacy policy as a condition for service. And he acknowledged that the 2004 policy said nothing about customers' data being owned by AT&T.

But Britton insisted that these elements essentially could be found between the lines of the former policy.

"There were many things that were implied in the last policy." He said. "We're just clarifying the last policy."

posted at 8:35:00 PM by fdtate

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