Discussions

An article today on the CBC website, https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bell-customer-data-1.4969066 , states:  
Bell Canada began asking its customers in December for permission to track everything they do with their home and mobile phones, internet, television, apps or any other services they get through Bell or its affiliates.  
 
In return, Bell says it will provide advertising and promotions that are more "tailored" to their needs and preferences.  
 
"Tailored marketing means Bell will be able to customize advertising based on participant account information and service usage patterns, similar to the ways that companies like Google and others have been doing for some time," the company says in recent notices to customers.  
 
Has anyone seen how Bell is asking for permission to collect personal data? Has anyone received an email or notification of change in terms of service? The distinct difference between Bell and Google as I see it is, I don't pay Google a thousand plus dollars annually so they can collect data on me.

Sooo because you pay one of them money you figure you should be treated differently?! Not quite how it works. They all use targeted marketing now a days, that's how they make their money or more money I should say.  
 
No one is forcing you to pay Bell a thousand plus a year. If you don't like it cancel your accounts, there are several alternatives if you are unhappy.

Nobody seems to care because most people probably do not actually care. In todays world we live in quite honestly almost every large company is collecting data on you and what you do for targeting advertising.  
 
Facebook, Instagram, Bell, Telus, Rogers, Google.  
 
They all collect data for different reasons and its just a part of the online life now. If you want total privacy you can't be online or deal with any company basically.  
 
Using a MacBook on chrome on a westman internet connection? Apple is collecting data on how you use the Macboook, Google is collecting certain browsing data on chrome, Westman can quite literally see almost everything you're doing if they want. Most of the data isnt tied directly to you and could be anonymous but they still collect certain types of data.

Let's face it, privacy is a thing of the past. Anybody with anything electronic pretty much signs away their privacy by signing up for pretty much anything. It's in the fine print.  
 
Anything and everything you do that goes through a computer is recorded and logged somewhere for easy access if the authorities (or corporations) ever need it. It's easy for them to build a full profile on you in a really, really short period of time if you use the internet on a private computer at home.  
 
If you use a debit card, a credit card, or paypal to buy anything with a barcode, your purchasing habits are logged. It's not hard to figure out where you shop, when you shop, what you buy, how often you buy, what brands you like, what medications you're on...  
 
Online banking? The banks know what you're paid, what utilities you have, where you live, where you hang out, where you travel, how often, how good you are at controlling yourself etc.  
 
And this stuff is just scratching the surface.  
 
Then there's all of the things people do, and say with facebook, instagram, twitter, etc. They're all pieces of your profile, and if you want to hang onto your privacy then you have no business putting it all on the internet for others to see. Now it's easy to access information on where you work, who you hang out with, who you're close to, who you dislike, your political beliefs, your religious beliefs, your interests, what you do for fun, etc. etc.  
 
Even sharing an opinion like this, on a public forum like this, allows others to see a bit into the psychology of the writer. Another piece of the profile.  
 
There's no such thing as privacy anymore. Bell already has your information if you're a bell customer. I really don't know why they're even asking for permission. In all reality - all they have to do is change the terms of service agreement and give you the option of staying on or dropping out. Every other tech company does it.  
 
Kind of funny how something that was once considered to be an "essential service" (phones), has turned our own private information into a commodity to be sold to between companies...  
 
There... I just added another piece of profile.

Since Bell also owns Bell Media (which may or may not take a hit in the coming decades), I have to wonder if this is an attempt to get out ahead of that. They sell commercial space on their TV stations. However, with both cord cutting and consumer demands growing increasingly less generalized, such is no longer going to cut it. Hence the need to be much more proactive in figuring out who is using both (presumably) their streams and other services.  
 
This is not a defense. More, a hypothesis. And don't be too quick to leave Bell over this either. Rmember that both Shaw and Rogers also have fairly significant investments in legacy media, AND a fairly large chunk of online customers to data mine if they so choose.  
 
My 2 suggestions for a user of any ISP would first be to use DNS over https or TLS (such as 1.1.1.1), or a full on VPN. Be weary of your choice on that front, however.  
 
1.) The wrong VPN provider can become the new big brother in you life.  
 
2.) I'm pretty sure the service I utilized regularly for different purposes was leaking DNS data. Not overly concerning for my purposes, but potentially horrific for others.  
 
Edited by Simonwalcal, 2019-01-20 08:28:17