Comcast Wants to Charge More For Privacy

Comcast Says It Wants to Charge Broadband Users More For Privacy
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"Comcast this week informed the FCC that it should be able to charge broadband users looking to protect their privacy more money.

The FCC has been crafting some new privacy rules for broadband that would force ISPs to disclose exactly what they're collecting and selling, while also providing working opt-out tools.

But the FCC also wants to take aim at efforts by some ISPs to make privacy a premium option. AT&T, for example, charges its U-verse broadband customers significantly more if they want to opt out of snoopvertising.

In a new filing with the FCC (pdf), Comcast argues that charging consumers more money to opt out of snoopvertising should be considered a "perfectly acceptable" business

"A bargained-for exchange of information for service is a perfectly acceptable and widely used model throughout the U.S. economy, including the Internet ecosystem, and is consistent with decades of legal precedent and policy goals related to consumer protection and privacy," Comcast said in the filing.

The company proceeds to claim that banning such options "would harm consumers by, among other things, depriving them of lower-priced offerings."

In short, Comcast is arguing that protecting your own privacy should be a paid luxury option, and stopping them from doing so would raise broadband rates.

But as we've noted for years it's the lack of competition that keeps broadband prices high. It's also the lack of competition that prevents users upset with broadband privacy practices from switching to another ISP.

That's why the FCC thinks some basic privacy rules of the road might be a good idea.
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In contrast, consumer advocates argue that the decision to make privacy an expensive luxury option -- combined with Verizon and AT&T's decision to covertly modify wireless user packets to track customers around the Internet -- make it abundantly clear that the industry simply can't be trusted to self-regulate on the privacy front without significant consumer harm."

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Comcast Wants to Charge More For Privacy