4 ms·

Not every city in America is terrible. I live in a city of ~250k, we have multiple competing cable companies here and we get very reliable, fast, gig internet

Not every city in America is terrible. I live in a city of ~250k, we have multiple competing cable companies here and we get very reliable, fast, gig internet for a good price. In my childhood hometown they have muni internet. It started out great as it was cutting edge. They have barely upgraded in over a decade. It's crap and the cable company in town has largely won. I also don't want the government tracking my internet history in any fashion. Too many government services could tie into knowledge about you and I want the government to have only the minimum information necessary to provide those services.

dv_dt 6y ago
That an ISP is municipal is hardly any sort of deciding factor on if government tracking has been welcomed into a given data service or not. Large private telecoms imho are both much more likely to be targeted and to cooperate.
streblo 6y ago
> Not every city in America is terrible. Fine, but MANY are. In the past 5 years I've lived in two of America's biggest cities and only had one ISP to choose from. > I also don't want the government tracking my internet history in any fashion. Too many government services could tie into knowledge about you and I want the government to have only the minimum information necessary to provide those services. As if the government can't/doesn't already subpoena your ISP for this information.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
vangelis 6y ago
> I also don't want the government tracking my internet history in any fashion. The government already can compel your ISP to hand over that data.
- geodel 6y ago
  So you are saying we better willingly give data, since govt can anyway get it if they want?
  - Ericson2314 6y ago
    In fact, yes. C.f. there many laws about mail tampering for the post office. When the government has to deal with the data in "normal, non-criminal" situations, and not just "special investigative" ones, there tends to be better safe-guards in place.
- nightski 6y ago
  I'm sure they can but there is a big difference between the two situations to me. One makes the data readily available. The other requires effort on behalf of the government on a case by case basis.
  - hedora 6y ago
    The data is currently readily available. In the case of municipal broadband, you could vote for local politicians that are against dragnet surveillance. Also, paradoxically, the 4th prevents the government from gathering data, but not purchasing it. In the case of municipal broadband, there is a strong argument to be made that you are constitutionally protected against invasive privacy policies, such as logging or selling personal information.

dv_dt 6y ago

That an ISP is municipal is hardly any sort of deciding factor on if government tracking has been welcomed into a given data service or not. Large private telecoms imho are both much more likely to be targeted and to cooperate.

streblo 6y ago

> Not every city in America is terrible. Fine, but MANY are. In the past 5 years I've lived in two of America's biggest cities and only had one ISP to choose from. > I also don't want the government tracking my internet history in any fashion. Too many government services could tie into knowledge about you and I want the government to have only the minimum information necessary to provide those services. As if the government can't/doesn't already subpoena your ISP for this information.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

vangelis 6y ago

> I also don't want the government tracking my internet history in any fashion. The government already can compel your ISP to hand over that data.

geodel 6y ago
So you are saying we better willingly give data, since govt can anyway get it if they want?
- Ericson2314 6y ago
  In fact, yes. C.f. there many laws about mail tampering for the post office. When the government has to deal with the data in "normal, non-criminal" situations, and not just "special investigative" ones, there tends to be better safe-guards in place.
nightski 6y ago
I'm sure they can but there is a big difference between the two situations to me. One makes the data readily available. The other requires effort on behalf of the government on a case by case basis.
- hedora 6y ago
  The data is currently readily available. In the case of municipal broadband, you could vote for local politicians that are against dragnet surveillance. Also, paradoxically, the 4th prevents the government from gathering data, but not purchasing it. In the case of municipal broadband, there is a strong argument to be made that you are constitutionally protected against invasive privacy policies, such as logging or selling personal information.