BEFORE YOU BUY A WEBTV...

But tracking our on-line activities is just the start. The WebTV Plus and DishPlayer units, which offer interactive TV (iTV) also have the ability to monitor and track your entire family's off-line TV viewing habits!! This updated list includes:

Each night the Plus and Dishplayer boxes dial the service in order to upload this private information. One WEBTV privacy advocate aptly dubbed these Plus units a "Trojan Horse stealing information from our homes in the dead of night." Click here for an example of what information can be included on a TV LOG.

Why does WTV collect this TV data? Because in February '98 Microsoft made an arrangement with Nielsen TV Ratings. It has long been the goal of these ratings services to quietly study and record our private behavior hoping to bypass our conscious attempts to protect our privacy.

In its Privacy Statement WebTV predictably stresses the information they have a legitimate need to collect. In fact they seem to want to bore you with self-evident details... that they need to store your mail and your name for billing purposes, for example. But what is of more concern is what private data WTV has NO legitimate need for yet collects anyway. As said before, to date WTV has never fully stated all the private information it Tracks and Logs! It has been hackers who have exposed much of what WebTV is doing.

WebTV claims not to pass on our true identities to advertisers is NO guarantee our information is safe. The simple fact is WebTV may keep this information linked to our real names. What private info WebTV keeps and for how long, they refuse to disclose. This failure to be forthcoming with its subscribers is extremely troubling. Not only is it potentially subject to abuse within WTV, but there is a growing trend to subpoena ISP records in civil cases. Unwitting Subscribers may have official WebTV Logs used against them in court never knowing that the information had ever been collected! Even if legal considerations are not a concern... who can be comfortable knowing the WebTV service is akin to Big Brother... watching everything they do? Furthermore... since WebTV reserves the right to change its TOS at its sole discretion... who knows what WebTV will do with our private data tomorrow?

WEBTV's TOS: GOOD FAITH & INFORMED CONSENT?
In an October '98 magazine article former WebTV president Steve Perlman was quoted:
"It not only makes ethical sense to protect peoples' privacy, in the end it makes economic sense. Because if they feel they're being watched or don't feel, they're not going to use your service,"

That is a curious statement from the president of a ISP who must have known WebTV had in reality created an Orwellian Tracking system which essentially turned its Subscriber base into Lab Rats. Be that as it may... let's examine WebTV's actual corporate behavior for signs of these "ethical concerns".

Leaving aside for a moment things like the Print, Credit Card, Chat Logs etc, one might think that before any company began such a massive invasion of a family's private TV viewing habits, as WebTV did, their "ethical concerns" would have had made it imperative to fully inform its subscribers.... or offer an "opt-in" option.

It might rightly be taken as a sign of WebTV's true concern for ethics and its contempt that WTV never formally informs its subscribers in writing of any changes in its Terms of service (TOS)! WebTV's policy places the entire responsibilityon the subscriber to constantly read the TOS for minute changes in wording. A self-serving clause in their policies states our continued use of the WebTV service implicitly signals our agreement with those changes in the TOS.... even if in reality we are totally unaware any changes have been made! In this manner WebTV can in the future essentially give itself permission to do whatever it wants with our private data yet can claim there was "consent" on the part of subscribers. Their continued use of the service indicates they must not mind. Remember there are no Federal laws protecting our private data! This policy is as scandalous as it is transparently self-serving and must change. WebTV knows (since it can track our activities) the vast majority of the subscribers never review the TOS or the Privacy Policy... or have time to decode the legalese looking for a few words that could signal a big change in WebTV's policies. If WebTV wished its subscribers to be fully informed it would take measures to insure that happened! It is a sign of their actual disdain for business ethics that they do not wish us informed. Here's a commentary on WebTV's ever-changing TOS. Even a review of WebTV's official press releases will also not describe WebTV's TV Tracking. Instead, subscribers had to learn about the TV Tracking in the press.... and even this article did not explore the depth of WebTV's intrusion into our private lives. WebTV's current TOS can be found here.

PRIVACY: FOX GUARDING THE CHICKENS?:
Under growing criticism of widespread violations of personal privacy on the web, some industry groups were set to self-police member sites hoping to fend off Federal pro-privacy legislation. One of these groups is called Trust-e and WebTV is a member. The Trust-e web page is a glorious tribute paying lip service to personal privacy. Yet, Trust-e's certification does NOT apply to WebTV's internet services... only its corporate website!

As was stated earlier, on-line services, such as WebTV have a conflict of interest in that they get revenues from advertisers who are willing to pay a higher rate for individually "targeted" ads. But, in order to profile a subscriber WebTV must track and categorize what most would consider their personal web habits. It seems that our only protection on how WebTV uses private information is to be found in their Privacy Policy and their TOS. This is a case of the proverbial fox guarding the chickens. WebTV's Privacy Policy can be found here.

WEBTV's EVER-CHANGING TOS & PRIVACY POLICY:
Every Internet Service Provider (ISP) has a written Terms of Service (TOS) agreement with its Subscribers. With WebTV you can not even see it until you have purchased the box and attempt to register.

In spring of 98 WTV created its Privacy Policy. If one reads it (or the TOS) one will never get any idea of the true extent and depth of WTV's tracking. It is glossed over with vague assurances that no personally identifiable information is ever sold. Despite repeated letters, WTV has not specifically detailed what information they track and why. Together with the vague language of the TOS this would seem to indicate that WebTV is not interested in gaining either "informed consent" or the trust of its subscribers.

WebTV claims it does not sell personally identifiable information to advertisers. But the TOS also states that they can not be held liable for the misuse of our information by either itself or its partners. Since WebTV is under pressure to provide more detailed information to advertisers and since WebTV reserves for itself the right to change the TOS at any time, this is hardly a comforting situation.

COOKIES: Another method our privacy is invaded is by the abuse of Cookies on the web. While PC users have the ability to refuse and edit Cookies to protect their privacy... WebTV does not even offer access to our Cookie list... let alone the ability to delete Cookies. In fact WebTV has long maintained there was no way for us to delete Cookies. This was untrue. That simple code was found proving WebTV at any time could have offered that option.

WHO REALLY OWNS YOUR PRIVATE FILES?
This is probably WebTV's most troubling shortcoming. WebTV stresses family-friendly features, such as e-mail, the Plus's ability to send video snapshots and sound clips. They were once even considering having short video-clips in mail. But, since the WTV box has little room for storage, ALL these personal files, e-mail, address lists, bookmarks, and family mementos are kept on the WebTV servers! All of this information can be deeply personal and have taken years to collect yet Subscribers have no control over its storage. Should you run into difficulties with WebTV... say, your box breaks and you do not wish to continue with WTV service, an inability to pay, or because someone in your family does something causing your account to be terminated... you may permanently be denied access to your personal files! WNI makes no provisions to allow someone to salvage what amounts to their personal property! Whether WTV keeps these files or for how long is also unknown. Just losing an e-mail account can have implications no one imagined. For example, if you forget a password to a site, they may only be willing to send it to the mail account that had been deleted.

HOW SAFE ARE YOU AND YOUR PRIVATE FILES?
All your private files are stored on WebTV's servers. To access them your box must properly identify itself to the server. This storage model is more vulnerable to hacking than if your files were stored on a PC. In fact, Hackers have been able to get into other WebTV subscriber's accounts. Fortunately for WebTV, these Hackers told WebTV how it was done and while this problem has been fixed for now, privately WebTV staff have admitted no security system is foolproof.

Currently WebTV is having to deal with another serious security problem. Anyone who has another person's User ID number can DELETE that user's account... geographical distance is no obstacle! How would someone get these User IDs in the first place?

On at least six separate occasions over the past March '98, the WebTV mailservers were giving this information out! For more information please read this September '99 article.

While the threat above is serious, even more frightening is the WebTV servers occasionally leak more sensitive personal information such as one's real name and home phone number!

UNFAIR AND ARBITRARY POLICIES:
WebTV has a number of corporate "partners". While some just make WebTV hardware, others are web-based services like TalkCity which provides Chat services. WebTV essentially herds its users to these partners by providing easy links to their sites.

It would seem self-evident that whenever we use the services or one of WebTV's partners... we are essentially agreeing to abide by that partner's TOS. If, TalkCity bans a user for misconduct... in the real world we might just expect that user to be banned only from TalkCity.

Unfortunately, with WebTV this is NOT the case. Being banned from TalkCity has resulted in subscribers being deprived of access to ALL other Chat services... even though the conduct in question may not be a violation of another Chat service's TOS. This policy is both arbitrary and punitive and must be changed.

Numerous people have had their accounts terminated from WebTV. It is certainly possible that some did transgress WebTV's TOS. But one might never know exactly what one's alleged transgressions were from reading the termination letters. Despite the fact that termination may result in a person being deprived access to their personal file, WebTV offers only form letters filled with exaggerations and often untruths. A subscriber attempting to appeal this decision has no basis for an appeal since specific charges are not stated! For example one hacker who had worked with WebTV to fix security holes and had been thanked for his efforts by now WebTV president Bruce Leak, was recently terminated without warning. His story can be found here. Despite WebTV's knowing he is back on-line, they continue to deny him access to his original account files!

WEBTV USERS! JOIN THE REVOLT!
If you are WebTV Subscriber and are upset with WebTV's policies... it is not enough to sit back and endure them, YOU MUST ACT!

Suggested courses of action (please write with feedback):

HIT THEM IN THE POCKETBOOK:

PROTECT YOUR PRIVATE DATA:

PROTEST! WRITE! GET INVOLVED!

Remember... corporations respond to pressure. But if they discover they can get away looking out only for their own interests... they will attempt to get away with what they can. WebTV's self-serving policies are a clear example of this. Also, the trend towards greater and greater invasions of our privacy will only continue if we do not act. WebTV, nor any corporation, is entitled to private data WE choose not to share. If you do not stand up for yourself against the arrogant abuse of corporate power.... no one else will. No one.

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