Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Public Council Teleconference: Application Rationalization — Hidden Costs and Smart Decisions
November 17 at 11:00 am US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Honorio Padrón, of The Hackett Group, who will share the drivers for companies to tackle application rationalization and the results of research that define the hidden cost of complexity. Additionally, we will discuss key decision milestones—to start or not, holding the course steady and fulfilling expectations.
Virtual Desktop Cost-Benefit Analysis — Michael Jacobs, Catlin Group
The analysis contained in this presentation measures the cost of everything from the machines and licenses to the infrastructure for virtual vs. traditional desktop environments.
Honor your best senior team members - Apply for the CIO Ones to Watch Award
Get well-earned public recognition for your top up-and-coming team members, your IT organization and your enterprise. Award winners will be announced, publicized and feted in May 2010, great timing to help attract new IT recruits to your company.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »June 22, 2006 — CIO —
On Friday, when AT&T goes into its next court hearing on a lawsuit about alleged spying on its customers, the carrier will also be instituting a privacy policy for Internet and video services that says it owns subscriber account information.
"While your account information may be personal to you, these records constitute business records that are owned by AT&T. As such, AT&T may disclose such records to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process," reads the policy, which becomes effective Friday. It covers only the carrier’s Internet services, such as AT&T/Yahoo DSL, and its emerging U-verse and Homezone TV services. U-verse delivers TV and video over a fast form of DSL, and Homezone is a combination of DSL and satellite TV. Both are set for commercial launch before September.
AT&T is facing a class-action lawsuit led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil rights group that says the carrier handed over information on use of its Internet access services to the U.S. National Security Agency. Alleged law enforcement programs to collect information from carriers and Internet companies have raised alarm about how much information people may give up when they use the Internet or make a phone call.
The new policy document isn’t a change in approach, according to AT&T. The carrier wrote it to explain its policies for the video services and in the process reworked language it had used in earlier policies.
"These policies clarify long-standing AT&T policy," said company spokeswoman Tiffany Nels. "We eliminated a lot of the legalese and used a lot of plain English."
That’s not necessarily cause for relief, according to Sherwin Siy, staff counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.
"Everything they say they will do under the new policy could be read into the old policy," Siy said. "Even a privacy policy that may look good in the abstract, if it’s sufficiently vague and it’s not specific in how it provides protection for consumers, really does nothing other than provide the company with a way out of taking responsibility for the uses of customer information."
One new item in the document is a policy involving AT&T’s video services. The carrier will collect information about what subscribers watch and record, Nels said. That data will help the company "personalize the viewing experience" through services such as show recommendations, she said.
In addition, subscribers have to agree to the policy as part of their contract with AT&T. The video services will require a home visit for setup, and at that time the customer will have to sign a copy of the rules, Nels said. DSL subscribers are understood to agree to the policy by continuing to use the service; that aspect hasn’t changed, Nels said.