Clearly bad news… but it's not just the Americans who suffer this kind of thing. Three of our very own ISPs, BT Broadband, Virgin Media and Talk Talk, have all signed up to this new 1984-ternet.
It's called "Webwise", a new technology created by former spyware makers Phorm. Webwise listens in on your broadband connection, and logs all of your browsing habits. And the point? Adverts. They can be directed straight down the phone line and into your internet browser, and tailored to match your behaviour on the web.
Clearly this is a massive breach of users' privacy, but the real news is that BT have already been testing Webwise on its customers… without their knowledge! It's a modern cold war nightmare. Also, you can't control it: no firewall, pop-up blocker or browser can reach along your BT landline, from where Webwise sits and watches all times.
Up to now, it's not technically illegal. Or is it? Well… in Britain, we haven't made our minds up about whether the Webwise technology should be legal or not: after all, it's a "robot" doing the watching, not a person. See, the issue is new, and the laws aren't written yet. Companies like Phorm and BT are setting the precedent, though, and very few people are really challenging them.
Plus, cha-ching! Think of the economic growth! People get profiled, browsing patterns become big profits. ISPs can't believe their luck: they're about to cash in on all those expensive "unlimited broadband" deals! New laws are being written as we speak to protect an ISP's right to snoop, and everyone wants to get in on it.
And if that doesn't work, there's always the good old "public safety" issue to fall back on. We don't appear to mind too much when our civil liberties being eroded, as long as it's in the name of keeping the bad guys fenced in. After all, we've already decided to protect ourselves from music and porn, and I bet you didn't even know that!
1 comments:
Hey,
Hope you are well. This is not a spam, I am generally interested in your help.
I am working on a series of events on behalf of San Miguel. They are putting on 5 music events over the summer, under the name Hidden Depths. There have already been 2. The first of which was in London at the Soho Revue Bar, which is an amazing venue actually. Prior to the event no one knew what the line up was, just that it was hosted by Mark Jones of Wall of Sound. The secrecy of the line up is the running theme of Hidden Depths. So in the end, everyone was treated to the likes of Shortwave Set, A Human, Propellerheads, and The Infadels, and lots of free San Miguel.
The second event was last Thursday in Manchester, at a venue called Joshua Brooks. It was a unbelievable night. It was covered in Hidden Depths decor, big leather sofas, and huge LCD screens showing art film. The highlight though was definitely the music... obviously. Again the public were only aware that The Glimmers were going to be there. In the end though the crowd was blessed with the likes of THE Grandmaster Flash, and the Unabombers. The Glimmers smashed it, Unabombers smashed it, and The Grandmaster definitely smashed it. Here is a review from another blogger that paints a good picture http://www.buzzinelectronicmusic.co.uk/the-glimmers-grandmaster-flash-unibombers-hidden-depths-event-manchester/98 .
So that’s Hidden Depths so far. There are 3 more events to come. Secretsundaze, Chromeo, and It’s Pop It’s Art. Secretsundaze is on the 31st July at T-Bar, London. Featuring the likes of Theo Parrish, James Priestley, Giles Smith and 3 more TBC. The Chromeo event is 21st August at The End, there are another 9 acts playing including Annie Mac who was surprisingly epic at Glastonbury. The final event It’s Pop It’s Art, is on the 18th September at The Amersham Arms. Hosted by Fred Deakin of Lemon Jelly. Please DO NOT release these line ups on your post. This is just for YOUR knowledge, and gives you something to work with when you write your epic post.
As a committed music blogger we would really like you to get involved and talk about the events. There is an opportunity for you to come on down to the events as we have a few select tickets we are offering to key bloggers. You will be treated like a VIP and there’ll be free San Miguel on offer to the guests on our list
There are opportunities to have face to face interviews with the DJ’s on the nights or email interviews before the events if you cannot make the event.
We also have some competition prizes if you wanted to run a competition on your blog, and your users can win some cool prizes e.g. we have some Glimmers albums “GeeGee Fazzi”, Wall of Sound albums (we have signed & unsigned copies) and some exclusive Chromeo mp3s.
These are “ticket only” events, so if you users would like to attend, all they would need to do, is register for a chance to get a free ticket on the Hidden Depths website: http://www.sanmiguel.co.uk
Let me know if you are interested in being involved and we can discuss this further!
I look forward to your reply.
Kind Regards
Rupert
rupert@dbmpulse.co.uk
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