Prepare to Read the Fine Print in Your ISP Agreement

If Rep. Darrell Issa has his way, you'll need to read the fine print carefully before signing up with an Internet Service Provider:

Issa suggested that Internet providers could get "consent from every single person who signed up to operate under their auspices" for federal police to monitor network traffic for attempts to steal personal information and national secrets.

Issa's plan would give the FBI yet another mechanism for invading your privacy.

"That's very troubling," said Greg Nojeim, director of the project on freedom, security, and technology at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "It could be an effort to achieve, through unknowing consent, permission to monitor communications in a way that would otherwise be prohibited by law."

Do you really want to consent to an an "FBI-can-monitor-everything clause" when you sign up with an ISP? Since most of us would balk at such a blatant invasion of our privacy, and since people who send us email (particularly from another country) may not themselves have consented to sharing their thoughts with the FBI, Issa has a back-up plan which, unsurprisingly, is even worse. (more...)