Today pictures of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan are splashed across the front page of Valleywag. Nothing unusual in that, except for the fact that both Paris and Lindsay didn’t consent. These were obtained through a fairly simple hack into their MySpace profiles, via Yahoo! Notably: the hack didn’t involve any illegal passwords, just typing in URLs.
ValleyWag used this as an excuse to launch into an attack on the principles behind Data Portability as part of their coverage. We discussed it, and concluded that the model has to begin with privacy, and ensuring that privacy contracts between services are honored, before any discussion of portability.
We also talked a little about what to expect on Monday at the Apple WWDC. Aside from Steve Job’s dress, not much is known. Assuming the keynote is simulcast, we’ll move the SquawkBox until directly afterward.
Just last week I had a chat with my Rogers rep on the phone. It has become a monthly ritual…. I phone them and ask if I’m paying too much. They tell me whether there are any better new deals available. It’s the only way to make sure I’m not getting raped by Ted “Jolly” Rogers pricing.
What did I learn?
the $65/month data plan which I’ve written about previously has gone away. Rogers will still give you 1 G of mobile data, but now they want $100/month. Hello? When the rest of the world has data rates that are plunging like a stone, Jolly Rogers is cranking their rates up. Sure smells like a monopoly to me. Is anyone at Industry Canada paying attention? Needless to say, I chose to stick with my pre-existing $65/month “deal”.
the $7/month “vision plan” which includes a whack of video calling, SMS, internet and email data, access to the Rogers music store, Yahoo and more is available to owners of N95 phones, even if you haven’t bought them from Rogers. It’s not all good news, though. In order to get that $7/month you have to sign up for a three year contract.
“What? But I already own the phone!”
“I’m sorry sir, the contract has nothing to do with the phone.”
I said “No thanks” to their Vision “deal”. I would have done $7/month uncontracted, but there’s no way I’ll be locked into a three year deal with any phone company. At first I was mystified as to why Jolly Rogers would leave $7/month of high margin low usage revenue on the table. They did it because they can. As the only game in town, your only option is to agree to their terms.
Despite the lavish television advertising, video calling is dead on arrival in Canada. It needs an expensive phone, with a long term contract, that few people have and under the current pricing are unlikely to obtain. Thank the pirates on HMS Monopoly at “Jolly” Rogers HQ.
From Paris France, Andy writes about the rise of complimentary WiFi this morning. He says his broadband speeds are better than hotels, and all he needed was a code from the waiter.
Like Andy, I’ve been choosing to leave my hotel for broadband access. Hotel broadband has become unreliable, ports are blocked frequently, and I’m finding it impossible to get business done while I travel as a result. Knowing where decent WiFi can be found is turning out to be a critical weapon in the travellers toolkit!
As a result, a key criteria for me in the selection of a hotel is the presence of a nearby Starbucks. It’s pretty easy to figure out, though. For example, I stayed at the Bond in Toronto recently. Typing “starbucks near dundas and bond, toronto” into Google maps resulted in this map:
Perhaps Data Portability is wrongheaded, or perhaps not. However since there are no privacy standards, legislated or fiat, there are no guarantees that can be made that your personal data, once it has migrated from one service to another, can be adequately protected by the recipient service. Moreover, who are the other parties in Paris and Lindsay’s pics, and is their privacy being violated also?
Perhaps before working on data portability, MySpace, Yahoo! et al should focus on getting privacy right.
