WASHINGTON – Charter Communications Inc. announced Tuesday that it was dropping plans to track the internet usage of some of its subscribers – including thousands in North Texas. The move had been criticized by customers and politicians.
U.S. Representative Joe Barton (R-Arlington) led a bipartisan effort against the pilot program because he was concerned it would infringe on the privacy of customers.
Charter Communications was planning to collect information about websites that subscribers visited and then disclose that data to a firm called NebuAd. That company then planned to use the information to target internet advertising to subscribers based on their web browsing patterns.
Congressman Barton, who is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, was pleased by the company’s decision to end the program before it started.
“Victories on the privacy front are so uncommon that when we win one, it’s especially worth celebrating. I hope this one leads to many more, because just the idea that people deserve to have their privacy protected from intrusion is under siege in the digital age.”
Charter Communications serves more than 170,000 customers in Texas, many of them constituents of Rep. Barton’s in Tarrant and Ellis counties.
He has represented the 6th District of Texas since 1985.
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