ISP Association rejects civil rights campaign

The Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) is to advise its members to ignore all letters sent by users which relate to a UK civil rights group's campaign to make them more accountable to consumers.

The group, known as Cyber-rights and Cyber-liberties UK, is urging Internet users to write a letter to their ISP asking it for details on the way it handles their personal information.

ISPA secretary general, Nicholas Lansman, said: "We will advise them all to completely ignore the letter because we think it's grounded in misinformation."

Lansman argued that all ISPA's members already handle their data in such a way that consumer rights are always protected. He said that the only information that is ever revealed outside their servers is that which is considered to be related to illegal activities and is required by law enforcement agencies.

When Cyber-rights and Cyber-liberties UK's director, Yaman Akdeniz, learned that ISPA will reject the campaign, he was extremely disappointed. "Misunderstanding is not the issue here; all we are doing is encouraging ISP accountability to citizens who have a right to find out what is happening with their personal data," he said. Otherwise, he warned, ISPA and its members could risk bad feeling.

Akdeniz concluded with a bold challenge to ISPA: "Come out and open up your decision-making processes in a more democratic manner, and make yourself more accountable to the British public."