Australian Telco Causes Minor Panic While Preparing Web Filter

Twisted64 writes "Australia's largest telco, Telstra, has been frightening users of its mobile data services for the last week. Logging revealed that HTTP requests from a mobile device on Telstra's network were duplicated with a request from another server, located in Chicago. Eyebrows were raised on the Whirlpool forums, with fears that Telstra was giving up Australian browsing data to a U.S. company and therefore the U.S. government. Following a well-worded letter, Telstra revealed today that the reason for this behavior is that the company is preparing an opt-in web filter. Personally, while the idea of my browsing data being logged anywhere does not fill me with joy, the idea of the U.S. government having access to it (randomized or not) is probably going to be enough to make me switch to an inferior carrier once my current plan ends."

Re:Don't wait for the plan to end

[Cimexus]

That's complete balderdash. This article is about the Telstra NextG (3G/4G LTE) cellular network, not their fixed line stuff. And Telstra has never, ever had anything remotely approaching a monopoly in the mobile market in Australia. Indeed, Australia's always had a much wider choice and range of cellular providers than most of the US has (and nowhere near the same degree of carrier-lockin via locked devices etc.)

Anyone on NextG can switch with minimal difficulty to Optus, Vodafone, Virgin, Boost, TPG, Amaysim ... (insert a dozen more carriers here). Whether or not those choices are BETTER than NextG is obviously questionable (NextG is by far the fastest and best coverage), but that does not mean there is no choice.

Re:No worries

[ThatsMyNick]

RequestPolicy takes care of it.

Re:Seriously?

[Cimexus]

This is not about 'internet restrictions'. This is to do with the fact that this represents a potential breach of the Privacy Act [comlaw.gov.au]. Australia has fairly strong privacy regulations that govern how and when information can be sent overseas, and how people need to be notified of how their information is used, who can see it, what it can be used for etc. America OTOH is notorious for having probably the most lax privacy regulations/legislation in the developed world.

So yeah, in that respect, Australia's laws are "worse" (in that they are more strict with regards to protecting personal information). And we like it that way. Surreptitiously exporting information to a jurisdiction where similarly tough controls do not exist is not looked upon favourably.

Re:US Govt.?

[AliasMarlowe]

Personally, while the idea of my browsing data being logged anywhere does not fill me with joy, the idea of the U.S. government having access to it...

What leap of logic could possibly lead people to believe that just because the server is in the US that the US Feds have access to it, or even care?

One of the provisions of the Patriot Act [wikimedia.org] gives the US government access to all data stored within the US on request. Essentially unlimited access can be granted in secret, and the request for access and the reasoning behind the request can be kept secret.

NoScript

[DrYak]

Just like NoScript breaks the web for me,

That's normal and intented. NoScript is supposed completely block any interactive content (either scriptable/programmable stuff like javascript/java/.net/flash, or big media files like audio/video tags), until you whitelist something.
It is supposed to "break" everything (or more precisely make everything "Web 1.0" :-) ) until you say: "Well, I might trust that source not to completely bork my machine, please unbreak it, and only it".

It is for the paranoid us out there. It's not designed for someone who expect a set and forget solution to security (unlike tools like CertPatrol or HTTPS Everywhere, which don't require much fumbling from regular users). It's designed for people who don't trust anything and prefere to manually select which tiny bit of the web they might choose to trust, while disabling everything else (it's closer to Flashblock and other similar tools in that way. Except that NoScript has a wider scope by blocking *anything* interactive)

(In addition to that, it will also block cross-site-scripting until whitelisted, and will put alerts about click jacking).

Re:Don't wait for the plan to end

[bloodhawk]

I Live in Canberra, I hate telstra, but they are the ONLY provider that seems to even cover the city let alone rural areas outside the city. I tried multiple providers before grudgingly admitting telstra was the only viable option. Vodafone worked in the city center but not my suburb, Optus was patchy at best and 3 was a total joke everywhere.