roamingguy 300292 Report post Posted October 23, 2013 http://ca.news.yahoo.com/bell-start-tracking-customers-history-tv-viewing-unless-144614687--finance.html?.tsrc=yahoo 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qwertyaccount 15793 Report post Posted October 23, 2013 Two possible solutions: 1) Switch carriers, at least for internet access. http://www.teksavvy.com/ appears to be a viable option in many areas. 2) If #1 isn't immediately possible, start using https, such as https://www.cerb.ca Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phaedrus 209521 Report post Posted October 25, 2013 2) If #1 isn't immediately possible, start using https, such as https://www.cerb.ca Using https is generally a good idea. I use the Firefox HTTPS-everywhere plugin, so I don't even have to think about it; I'm pretty sure there's a Chrome equivalent. I'm not sure about IE and Safari. However... it won't help much in this case. It sounds like what Bell's planning on doing is mostly based on seeing which websites you visit, and https only encrypts the content you exchange with those sites. So although they might not know what you're doing on CERB, they still know you spent time there. The way to screw Bell over on this one is to use a VPN or some kind of anonymization service. A VPN encrypts everything between your machine and the VPN server; even if it's in the clear thereafter, all Bell can know is that you've set up a VPN connection and how much traffic goes over it. Unless the VPN provider is also on their network, which is unlikely (especially if you pick one based in another country :) ) they can't see where you're going. Downside: a VPN service will cost you a few $ per month. Upside: it also means you can browse CERB from work without your employer knowing either. Other upside: websites will believe you're located where your VPN server is, so if you choose a US-based provider then you'll be able to click links to extracts from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report without being redirected to Comedy Central. The second option is to use anonymization services such as Tor. Upside: it's free Downside: download speeds can suck at times Downside: the NSA will take a lot of interest in what you're doing online, because obviously all Tor users are terrorists. Why else would you want to be anonymous? Upside: The NSA will still find it really hard to find out what you're doing online, which will piss them off greatly. They HATE Tor :) I use Tor a lot these days. I don't actually care who sees what stories I'm reading on the CBC news website, but I love to think of the expressions on the faces of the NSA's minions when they work out that the encrypted browser session they've just cracked was just reading about Mike Duffy's latest political woes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qwertyaccount 15793 Report post Posted October 25, 2013 The way to screw Bell over on this one is to use a VPN or some kind of anonymization service. A VPN encrypts everything between your machine and the VPN server; even if it's in the clear thereafter, all Bell can know is that you've set up a VPN connection and how much traffic goes over it. Unless the VPN provider is also on their network, which is unlikely (especially if you pick one based in another country :) ) they can't see where you're going. Downside: a VPN service will cost you a few $ per month. Upside: it also means you can browse CERB from work without your employer knowing either. Other upside: websites will believe you're located where your VPN server is, so if you choose a US-based provider then you'll be able to click links to extracts from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report without being redirected to Comedy Central. Great points! Another downside to using a VPN service is that you have to trust them. absolutely as all of your information is visible to them should they choose to look at it, just as bell is going to do. HTTPS is vulnerable to "man in the middle" attacks, and a VPN service could thus easily see all of your information, encrypted or not. I despise bell (and rogers), but I trust them enough not to worry about doing my on-line banking, etc., through them and not be concerned about them doing anything inappropriate. I don't have that level of confidence in a VPN service -- even if I were to trust the service providers themselves, without knowing the design and security of their systems, they could be vulnerable to hackers gaining access to their systems and gaining access to my data. Another issue is in what country the VPN service is physically located, and what the laws governing access is; for example, using a service in the US we are foreign communications and not given any protection from US government inspection whatsoever. The only real solution I can think of at the moment for an ISP like bell that is misbehaving is switching to an ISP that you dislike less. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
