Are you for sale? No? Are you sure? Is that even up to you? Well, Comcast wants to charge you protection money in exchange for your privacy.

It is amazing how easily we disclose information about ourselves. Sometimes it takes a big company attempting to put us “on sale” for us to realize how grotesque of an idea that is.

After all, if it’s wrong for identity thieves, hackers, and other such undesirables, to trade our information, why shouldn’t it be wrong for the companies with whom we choose to do business?

We can all understand when companies ask for additional in order to serve use better. But when the motive is nothing is nothing more than a search for an additional revenue pipeline, I can’t help but see it almost as bullying.

Cable companies like Comcast already enjoy monopolies in their local markets. This is unfair, but public utility boards see the tradeoff as a way for those companies to recoup some of their infrastructure investments.

Between fees and surcharges, it is very easy for us to see how those service providers, as well as the utility boards, enjoy a pretty sweet recurring revenue, without having to do much to earn it.

 

Prior Unauthorized “Sale”

Is Comcast happy with that? Of course not. Now they want you to pay for the privilege of not selling off your data to the highest bidder. Never mind that they were fined less than a year ago for similar infractions in California.

I don’t care what fancy language they use to describe what they want to do. Since when did it become okay for companies to behave like schoolyard bullies, or like the mafia? How is this different from paying “protection money,” to avoid getting beat up or robbed?

Comcast claims that the FCC has no right to tell them what to do about selling your internet browsing history. They claim that the  selling your information is actually good for you, because you could be missing out on paying lower monthly fees? I doubt you personally ever saw it that way, but that’s their story and they’re sticking to it.

If this is not okay with you, speak up. Whether or not you are a customer of Comcast, you don’t have to wait for the FCC to make a decision. You have the power to tell them that you’re not for sale.