Web-based video services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and others have one important thing in common – they aren’t associated with cable companies. Many people (myself included) have decided to cancel cable service in favor of internet video consumption and over-the-air broadcasts. As subscribers for cable services decrease, cable companies are trying to figure out a way to make up for all that lost revenue. One solution may be to charge customers based on how much internet bandwidth they use in a billing cycle.

I just got a notice from my cable provider, Charter Communications, that they may start to “deliver or facilitate delivery of advertisements about goods and services that may be of interest” to me. Apparently, they’re not too concerned about their customers’ rights, and are doing this as an opt-out service. It’s one thing to spy for national security reasons, it’s another thing to spy on innocent people just to deliver ads.

From their website:

It’s the future as seen in Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report,” but it’s happening in the here and now: advertisers and retailers tracking your every move. In the Tom Cruise blockbuster, that tracking was done via optical recognition whenever his character walked into a Gap or walked by certain ads; in the case of the cable more »