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AT&T is mulling over the idea of monitoring its customers' surfing habits for those who use the company as their ISP, according to the New York Times on Thursday. While it has not yet done so, the company pointed to practices by Google in defense of its plans. However, if it does move forward, AT&T said it would do the right thing and require an "opt-in."
The practice is anticipated for customers who use AT&T as their ISP, and no mention of iPhone or other AT&T smartphone web browsers was made. Given Apple's historical concern over customer privacy and location services "opt-in" actions, that may not be on AT&T's radar right away for iPhone users.
The AT&T statements were part of a response to an inquiry from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce after reports that some ISPs, including Charter Communications, was going to sell detailed logs of their customer's Web surfing activities to an advertising company called NebuAd.
Charter has put it's plans on hold. In its response to the House Committee, the company said it was going to use an "opt-out" approach -- the customer would have to actively ask not to be included. [However, those notifications are seldom put in a single postal letter and sent to the customer. The provision is often simply buried deep in the fine print of a service agreement.]
Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and AOL responded to the committee and said that they don't monitor customer activity on sites that they don't run.
Dorothy Attwood, AT&T's senior vice president for public policy, provided a spirited defense of behavioral targeting, and claimed that their potential plans would benefit customers "online experience while protecting their privacy."
Recently, the FCC has been monitoring ISPs, particularly Comcast, for adherence to Net Neutrality principles. Now, the federal government also appears to...

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