Online privacy concerns have been a growing issue as governments and companies sell your personal information or use it against you. Most people think the biggest threat lies with individual websites or internet service providers but few realize that your router and other hardware could be spying on you too. Business Insider reveals the latest company to stomp on customers privacy:
Last week, Cisco sent out an upgrade to the software that make its routers work, called firmware. The upgrade affected two models, the EA4500 and the EA2700. Without asking, Cisco moved them to its “Cisco Connect Cloud” service. This software does things like let you set up a password for the device, or otherwise dink with it.
Here’s the catch: the Cisco Connect Cloud Terms of Service forbids a whole bunch of things including porn, sending advertising e-mails — it won’t even allow you to “encourage any conduct” that would violate the law.
Wait, there’s more. Cisco reportedly deleted a portion of a privacy statement that said Cisco would keep track of Connect Cloud customers’ “network traffic” and “Internet history,” ExtremeTech reported.
That lead people to wonder — was the router watching what people were doing on the Internet and reporting it back to Cisco? Would Cisco turn off your router if it caught you watching porn, sending out e-mail advertisements for your business, or voicing support for an act of civil disobedience?
