As the computer becomes more ubiquitous in everyday life, consumers are increasingly requested to conduct their personal and professional business on the Internet. When consumers use their computers at home or at work, they reasonably expect that their Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) is not spying on them, cataloging their personal buying or web surfing habits, or selling that information to third-party marketers. Unfortunately, for many Americans, those expectations may have been frustrated in 2007 and 2008.
In fact, many ISPs contracted with a company called NebuAd during that time period. NebuAd was a marketing company that used sophisticated behavioral analysis that enabled ISPs to analyze their customer’s Internet usage to provide targeted advertisements. Such actions are a severe violation of consumers’ privacy and may be a violation of state and federal laws.
The ISPs that apparently contracted with NebuAd are:
AllCities
Annapolis Wireless Internet
AzulStar, Inc.
Bresnan Communications, LLC
Cable One, Inc.
Casco Communications/Peak Internet
Cavalier Broadband, LLC
CenturyTel, Inc.; CenturyTel Broadband
Services, LLC; CenturyTel Service Group, LLC
CMS Internet LLC
Eastern Oregon Network, Inc.
Education Networks of America (ENA)
Embarq Management Co.; United Telephone
Co. of Eastern Kansas
Fire2Wire
Galaxy Internet Services
Grande Communications
High Speed Data Inc.
20/20 Communications
iBahn General Holdings
Knology, Inc.
Mesa Networks, Inc.
Millennium Digital Media Systems/Broadstripe
Network Evolution, Inc.
Nexicom Inc.
Ricochet Networks, Inc.
Rochester Telephone Company, Inc.
Softcom Internet Communications
United Online/NetZero
Unplugged Cities
WideOpen West Finance, LLC (WOW)
If you or someone you know is concerned about online privacy and used one of these ISPs in 2007 or 2008, please contact us to discuss your legal options.