Netflix Is Outing You, Gay Communist Serial Killer

Wired is running an article by Ryan Singel about a privacy breech at Netflix and the resulting lawsuit: Doe v. Netflix. At issue is Netflix's intentional release of supposedly anonymous subscriber data to the public for a movie recommendations improvement contest. Concerned parties, however, are worried the data could be easily used to identify specific people by cross-referencing the data with other sources.

The primary concern is one's movie-watching habits and preferences could provide tremendously strong hints about one's sexual interests, religious beliefs, political affiliations, etc. For example, if you have rented Brokeback Mountain, Milk, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert from Netflix, this data could potentially be used to indicate you have homosexual interests (whether you do or not). Perhaps you rented Lolita, The Lover, and Pretty Baby from Netflix. A nosey person might conclude you have an interest in underage girls. Maybe you rented movies about Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, David Berkowitz, etc. from Netflix. You might be identified as a person obsessed with serial killers. Perhaps you rented movies about Che Guevara, Chairman Mao, and Joseph Stalin from Netflix. You could be viewed as a person with Communist sympathies. The examples could go on and on.

Your movie-watching habits and preferences say a lot about you. What they say could be inaccurate, but they do say things. In the hands of a malicious person, your viewing data can be used to reveal all sorts of information about you. Whether these revelations are true or not, the information could be used to embarrass, harass, persecute, or investigate you.

If you are concerned that Netflix has compromised your privacy by releasing your personal movie-watching habits and preferences, consider contacting an attorney. At the very least, contact Netflix to find out what they are doing with your personal information. Make sure Netflix responds to you in writing. It is your information. You have a right to know. You have a right to hold Netflix accountable for this careless behavior.

Throttling Suspicions for Netflix Streaming Content

The latest controversy surrounding Netflix is about the throttling of streaming content over the Internet. Some Netflix subscribers have strong suspicions that Netflix is limiting their ability to view streaming content by forcing unusually long data buffer times that can force a viewer to wait for many minutes or hours before viewing a movie or show. Netflix and their defenders say some Internet service providers must be limiting their users’ data downloads through these buffer delays.

Regardless of who is causing these buffer delays, they are a problem, because they can greatly limit a Netflix subscriber’s ability to view streaming content. The real problem here is we do not know the true cause or culprit. We cannot trust the ISPs, because they are sometimes unscrupulous companies who hide behind technology and defend themselves with nonsensical industry lingo. We absolutely cannot trust Netflix, because, a few years ago, they were caught throttling subscribers through the mail and would not admit it until lawyers got involved.

Both the ISPs and Netflix have the ability to throttle customers and both could benefit by throttling. Since neither side can be trusted, throttled Netflix subscribers are in the dark. As of now, it appears that some Netflix subscribers who access streaming content might be getting throttled over the Internet. The question is: If this throttling is intentional, who is doing the throttling?

Click below to read Riyad Kalla’s article on The "Break It Down" Blog about streaming content throttling at Netflix.
"Netflix Throttling Instant Video Streaming Performance for Viewers"