AT&T Tries To Claim That Charging Users More For Privacy Is A 'Discount'

from the tomato,-tomahto dept

"We, AT&T, have a broadband Internet access service that we market to customers that if you agree, if you opt-in, to the use of your data for various reasons, then you get a discount,” Flemming continued. “That doesn’t mean that other people who don’t get the discount are paying for privacy. I wouldn’t say that,” she explained, even though that is in fact actually the case."

"I think that there is a benefit to the customer,” Flemming finished, “and it’s not as if we’re talking [all] broadband Internet access services, of which there are a wide range of them that are available to customers . In this particular instance, if you like to get this benefit, then there is a reciprocal benefit to the customer and the company."

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Last year, AT&T launched the latest sexy trend in broadband -- charging users significantly more money if they want to opt out of their ISP's snoopvertising. It basically works like this: users ordering AT&T's U-Verse broadband service can get the service for, say, $70 a month. But if you want to opt out of AT&T's Internet Preferences snoopvertising program (which uses deep packet inspection to study your movement around the Internet down to the second) you'll pay at least $30 more, per month. With its decision, AT&T effectively made user privacy a premium service.As the FCC has started pushing for new privacy rules (precisely because of ISP moves like this), AT&T's luxury-privacy option has been under heightened scrutiny. Speaking at a recent Consumer Federation of America panel, AT&T regulatory affairs executive Jacquelyne Flemming feebly tried to defend AT&T's policy , likening it to a "discount" that bestows "reciprocal benefits" to consumers:So, you see it's not that AT&T's charging you more just to protect your data, it's that you're getting a "discount" by letting AT&T snoop into your online behavior. It's much the same way that ISPs aren't charging youfor buying just broadband, they're giving you a "discount" if you sign up for phone or television service you may not actually want. Flemming then amusingly proceeds to argue that hey, at least not all ISPs are doing this:Right, except most users don't have the choice of more than one or two broadband providers, and if they'recharging you a premium to opt out, you'd be shit out of luck. Flemming also severely misstates what's happening here. A detailed look at what AT&T is doing shows that it's actually. Users have to read numerous instances of fine print to find the option, which isn't really explained clearly. So not only is AT&T making it more expensive to opt out -- they're intentionally making it notably difficult to actually do so.That, combined with AT&T and Verizon's foray into stealth packet headers , is why the FCC's now exploring broadband privacy rules -- rules that AT&T has breathlessly opposed in several blog posts . And while these posts throw out a wide variety of false claims about how consumer privacy protections aren't necessary because broadband ISPs are harmless sweethearts , there's really one idea driving AT&T's thinking: an empowered, informed consumer with the tools to protect their privacy means AT&T makes less money.

Filed Under: broadband, fcc, privacy

Companies: at&t