The Washington Post has an important story today recounting how some U.S. phone companies have begun to spy on their customers’ web-surfing habits without their knowledge.
Embarq (formerly Sprint) bought our rural phone company some years back, and are apparently a pioneer in this clandestine and profitable operation. They stiffed the Washington Post reporter and have kept me on the phone for an hour so far, with several bad bounces and always the option so “oprima dos para Espanol” (Maybe I should have done that, i might have gotten thru faster: “Ola, espiones, larguese de mi computadora o les voy a mandar mis amigos de la Mara!!”).
On the Hill, we used to call this kind of stalling BS in the bureaucracy a “classic diddling operation.”
Worst of all, I’m trying to listen to Haydn’s “Emperor Quartet” and their terrible “music on hold” won’t shut up.
If anybody has a way to call their legal department at their Kansas City HQ, please advise — everone else, please be aware that you are being watched.
When the countries behind the Iron Curtain were freeed after 1989, huge lists of spies — tens of thousands — were finally made public. When we are finally freed, I wonder whether Embarq’s senior executives will appear on our list?
4:00 pm on April 4, 2008
