Rogers Abuses Customers Privacy

It’s a wonderful day in the neighbourhood; it’s a wonderful day in the neighbourhood. “Wait, hello Mr. Rogers, what are you doing in my house”?  “Hello Billy, I was just sitting here in case you forgot your keys see. We have all our customers’ house keys in case they ever get locked out. And don’t worry anyone can have these keys at Rogers, so always count on us to be to be in your home in case you get locked out, you won’t even know we are there!”

Hello citizens of the internet. It has come to our attention that a big name corporation has gone beyond its boundaries as it can access your networks and decrypt both your login passwords your network keys. If you are a Rogers Internet customer this affects you. In reviewing the contract agreement we have found that nowhere do they mention or ask for a customer’s permission to be able to access such delicate information. We did some research and contacted some other ISP’s. To our surprise we found that Rogers is the only major ISP doing this to their customers. We contacted 3 major ISP providers in Canada and a few smaller providers and all were surprised to learn this was happening. They all have protocols in place that prevent their Representatives from ever visually seeing your password and network keys characters. Usually when you forget your Router/Gateway password, your ISP provider can reset your password remotely. In most modems there is usually a little button you can press with a thin object such as a pin to reset it back to factory. In doing this it automatically erases your current login password and network key, and you must re-enter a new one to secure it. Most ISP providers reset your adapter remotely and stay on the phone with you until they have instructed you to secure your connection. They guide you through a scripted process similar to most installation processes such as Step 1: “Now enter your Host Name Here:” 2: “Now enter your password, now re-enter your password” etc. Rogers is different in the way they can see your login password and its characters. They can come in fix your settings and see your network keys which is usually encrypted in sophisticated code. They can play with your settings and leave without you ever knowing they were there as they leave your passwords intact. We have also learned that any technical representative can access such delicate information. Not once do Rogers’s technical representatives ask their client for permission to enter their router/gateways/networks and or see their passwords and change their settings, as most people aren’t as tech savvy.
What does this all mean you ask? This means that any technical representative on the phone can ultimately ruin your life. Most of the technical representatives operate out of the same country and Region. At times trouble shooting can be frustrating, and at times this leads to arguments on the phone. If the technical representative really wanted he can ruin your online life, which can easily carry on to your real life. On top of having your passwords and network key, any rep can access your credit card information along with all your most personal information. They now have the ability to be you! They can send someone they know down to your house to tap into your Wi-Fi signal and download child pornography. Now you are a victim! This is just a simple and easy example of the repercussions of such corporate negligence.

What to do next? I have contacted Rogers personally about this matter. At first I was transferred a lot as they kept saying that this doesn’t always happen, and they would put a note on the account. I responded by asking how did they know which rep did this? And how can they guarantee this never happens again? They couldn’t provide a justifiable answer, so I kept insisting they look into this and keep me updated on this matter. They stood behind their corporate privacy, which is kind of ironic don’t you think? But I didn’t get off the phone until they transferred me to someone that would take this serious. As it happens my call was reviewed, and a few days later I received a call from the president’s office. His department was looking into the matter. I explained my concerns that any rep stranger has access to very delicate and encrypted information. Also their script or protocols weren’t clear enough about what they were asking of the customer. Rogers agreed that this was and is an issue. They said they would be looking further into this matter and they would follow up with me. They specified that they couldn’t release any information on the steps they took to reprimand those reps because supposedly they have to ask for permission. I told Rogers I called back 5 times acting like I didn’t know much. And to see or prove that this would happen reputedly. 6 out of 6 technical representative all accessed both my passwords without asking or specifying that they would do so. Rogers said they would call me back later in the week with an update. The follow up call went even worse than expected. They admitted that any and every representative could and can see any customers’ passwords, networks keys plus all their personal profile account information. Rogers’s solution is to downgrade my service to a cheaper modem which wouldn’t allow this to happen. But I pointed out that this is a policy issue. What about the other few thousand that don’t even know about this matter? Plus the modem they were instructing me to downgrade to is the original modem I had when I signed up for the service. It’s also the very modems that lead me to find this matter out in the first place. Clearly they aren’t taking this serious enough.

We ask of you to send this document around especially in Canada to teach people about privacy issues and corporate negligence. They want to watch us without our permission. Every day the CyberWar intensifies. The government is trying harder and harder every day to put in place an internet “Kill Switch”. This is just another example of a corporation taking advantage of their customers’ lack of computer and technical knowledge. Help us educate each other on how we stand to lose our internet freedom. Help us to prevent and stop internet monitoring and logging. Help us keep your privacy private!