ISP Embarq Monitors User Traffic

Slashdot references an article in the Washington Post about Sprint-Nextel's spin-off Embarq monitoring Internet activity on close to 26,000 customers in Kansas.

Embarq, a regional internet company, told lawmakers last week that it notified 26,000 Internet customers in Kansas that it was conducting a target advertising test based on their Web-surfing behavior and offered them an opt-out choice. The House of Representatives committee ofn Energy and Commerce is investigating whether any privacy laws were broken.

"I am still troubled by the company's failure to directly inform their consumers of the consumer data gathering test and the notion that an 'opt out' option is a sufficient standard for such sweeping data gathering," said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.

The advertising test used deep-packet inspection technology provided by NebuAd, a Silicon Valley company. When installed in an ISP's network, the technology allows a window into potentially all of a consumer's online actions, from Web surfing and search terms to any unencrypted Web communication.

See article in washingtonpost.com.