I'm not sure I understand their use of "large edge providers" in this context - are they insinuating that backbone providers such as Level 3 are already collecting my web traffic when they peer with my ISP? Or is that just a odd reference to "the largest email, search, and social media companies" mentioned further on? The article goes on to talk about common carrier status, so it feels like they mean the former but that just doesn't make sense.
Either way, I think you hit the nail on the head with this statement: "there is greater potential for ISPs if left unchecked and harder for users to avoid."
The CTIA's logic here can be reduced to "they do it so we want to do it too", seemingly framed within their long-time disposition of not considering themselves the "dumb pipes" that they are. Giving residential ISP's access to use this information, combined with what they already have on file for accounting purposes, is a situation just ripe for abuse. The article then goes on to say "What's less clear is whether the FCC will have any authority over ISPs' privacy practices after the rules are eliminated" - so there there may very well be no recourse whatsoever through either the FCC or FTC if or when widespread abuse were to occur. And of course, that's not even to start the age-old discussion about how & where the data is stored (plaintext on an insecure FTP server), who has access to it (all employees & contractors), etc.
I am confident that this change from the FCC will only serve to screw over individual people at the gain of large corporations.
Either way, I think you hit the nail on the head with this statement: "there is greater potential for ISPs if left unchecked and harder for users to avoid."
The CTIA's logic here can be reduced to "they do it so we want to do it too", seemingly framed within their long-time disposition of not considering themselves the "dumb pipes" that they are. Giving residential ISP's access to use this information, combined with what they already have on file for accounting purposes, is a situation just ripe for abuse. The article then goes on to say "What's less clear is whether the FCC will have any authority over ISPs' privacy practices after the rules are eliminated" - so there there may very well be no recourse whatsoever through either the FCC or FTC if or when widespread abuse were to occur. And of course, that's not even to start the age-old discussion about how & where the data is stored (plaintext on an insecure FTP server), who has access to it (all employees & contractors), etc.
I am confident that this change from the FCC will only serve to screw over individual people at the gain of large corporations.