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:
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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.