Internet.org violates user privacy and net neutrality, the net neutrality advocacy groups tells the Facebook CEO in the open letter
Internet Neutrality is the is the new big buzz in the town It has suddenly exploded on social media with multiple signature campaigns, most of which are in favor of keeping the net neutral. The government says it is waiting for two reports, one from its own committee, and the other from the Telecom Regulator (TRAI), which has put out a paper with suggestions and asked the public to respond over 3 lakh responses, according to some reports. But if you aren’t quite clear about what has triggered this national controversy, here is a quick primer.
Internet.org is the new platform launched by the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to help the big chunk of the population deprived of internet access in their country due unavailability of infrastructure. But this is presently opposed by the group of people who are promoters of new neutrality, according to them the internet.org by Facebook violates Net Neutrality principles and it will affect the user privacy. This group has sent a letter to the CEO of Facebook with the above content.
The following letter has been signed by the groups like US-based Center for Media Justice and Media Matters, IT for Change and SavetheInternet.in from India, RootsAction.org which is also based in the US. This letter is also been shared on the facebook is very critical for defining net neutrality ‘improperly’ and says that the company is “building a walled garden in which the world’s poorest people will only be able to access a limited set of insecure websites and services.” The group adds that Facebook’s claim that Internet.org will help provide Internet access to the poor is “misleading.”
Posted by Accessnow.org on Monday, May 18, 2015
According to the group, the open letter highlights that while the groups support affordable Internet to the world’s poor, the access should be “non-discriminatory” and “without privileging certain applications or services over others”. The groups say that Internet.org is not following the path of non-discrimination. The groups also say that Internet.org is a zero-rating programme essentially where Facebook ties up with cellular operators to provide a list of sites and services free is discriminatory in nature. The letter also raises question over Internet.org’s privacy policy and security given that “https” encryption is not yet supported. However Facebook has said earlier that it plans to bring HTTPS encryption to Internet.org’s Android app soon.
Mark Zuckerberg has defended the net neutrality strongly in the past saying that the internet.org co-exists with principles of net neutrality. He had written in an open post saying that “We fully support net neutrality. We want to keep the internet open. Net neutrality ensures network operators don’t discriminate by limiting access to services you want to use. It’s an essential part of the open internet, and we are fully committed to it. But net neutrality is not in conflict with working to get more people connected. These two principles — universal connectivity and net neutrality — can and must coexist.”
“To give more people access to the internet, it is useful to offer some service for free. If someone can’t afford to pay for connectivity, it is always better to have some access than none at all,” he had written. Facebook recently changed the rules for Internet.org making the platform open to more developers. With this Facebook said it hoped more developers would offer cheaper, efficient services on the platform to help provide Internet access for those who cannot afford it.
Source: Indian Express
