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Comcast threatening to cut off customers who use the Tor browser

2014-09-15 09:21 by
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Multiple users of anonymous web browser Tor have reported that Comcast has threatened to cut off their internet service unless they stop using the legal software.

Comcast agents have reportedly contacted customers who use Tor, a web browser that is designed to protect the user's privacy while online, and said their service can get terminated if they don't stop using Tor. According to Deep.Dot.Web, one of those calls included a Comcast customer service agent named Jeremy, who allegedly described Tor as an illegal service. The use of Tor was then described as against Comcast usage policy.

The problem is that downloading or using Tor itself isn't illegal. Plenty of people might have legitimate reasons to want to surf the web in private, without letting others know what they were looking at. But Tor has been pretty popular with criminals.

Comcast defended its actions, seemingly asserting that it needs to be able to monitor internet traffic in case they receive a court order:

"We respect customer privacy and security and would only investigate the specifics of a customer's account with a valid court order. And if we're asked by a court to provide customer information, then we ask for a reasonable amount of time to notify the customer so they can decide if they would like to hire a lawyer and if they do, then we turn the case over to them and they proceed with the judge directly and we step away."

Read more -here-

 

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