What We Advocate For

Data Foundry was founded as one of the first Internet Service Providers in the U.S. back in 1994 before we became a data center company. That’s why Internet privacy, net neutrality and other policy issues that affect technology are so near and dear to us. We have been involved in so many advocacy efforts over the years, but these are the main four issues we track and advocate for.

Data Collection & Retention

Data collection is conducted through various means, including the use of RFID chips, geolocation tracking, online behavior tracking and more. We support legal controls on data collection, and we are against data collection without permission or probable cause. We believe this is a violation of privacy. We are also against the retention of data when no crimes have been committed. Law enforcement and government agencies should not be allowed to retain the data indefinitely. Lack of controls on data collection in the U.S. create an inhospitable environment for foreign companies to do business, which hinders growth.

Encryption

We support the protection of encryption as a means to protect what is valuable, not to hide something illegal. Just as it was once common practice to store files in locked cabinets, companies and individuals must be allowed to protect their data with encryption. Encryption protects intellectual property and trade secrets. It protects sensitive consumer data, personal information and identities. Given the nature of technology and cyber criminals, we are against any policies or legislation that would allow the enforcement of encryption “backdoors”.

Open Market

We support legislation that protects open markets and equal opportunity to entry for all industries. Any system that protects monopolies and oligopolies hinders growth, innovation and progress, while protecting an open market fosters innovation and fair pricing.

Open Internet

We believe consumers should be able to use the network providers, platforms, applications, etc. of their choice without penalty. Access to an open Internet fosters innovation and progress. We believe the majority of U.S. consumers currently face a lack of options and unfair pricing when it comes to their network and content providers.

Glossary

Terms used in bills, policies, publications and other types of media to define technology policies and legislation can be confusing and are sometimes used ambiguously. After seeing terms used incorrectly in the media and finding definitions in bills that deviate from legislative norms, we decided to provide a technology policy glossary for terms and acts we frequently reference in content published on our Advocacy Hub.

Open Internet & Telecom

Communications infrastructure – Communications infrastructure is composed of the fiber, cable or wire and the equipment (such as multiplexers, lightwave or waveguide) that allows the medium to transmit information. Also known as “transmission facilities.”

Information service – The offering of a capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available information via telecommunications, and includes electronic publishing, but does not include any use of any such capability for the management, control, or operation of a telecommunications system or the management of a telecommunications service.

Last mile – Any communications infrastructure that carries signals from the telecommunications backbone into a home or business. The backbone could be compared to a main road, while the last mile could be compared to a driveway or a small street.

Net neutrality – Short for network neutrality. First defined in 2002 by Colombia Law School professor Tim Wu as a non-discrimination principle for broadband providers wherein a carrier does not give preference to one application or type of traffic over another. This definition overlaps somewhat with Open Internet, however, net neutrality rules have been developed in an attempt to regulate major ISPs and trust them play fair, rather than force them to provide open access. These attempts have been largely unsuccessful.

Open access – An Internet experience in which all Internet providers large and small have fair access to the infrastructure over which their services run. Open access separates the physical network from the delivery of services, so the owner of the network is not the only one in position to supply the services. Open access allows for an open, competitive marketplace.

Open Internet – An Internet experience with in which network providers cannot restrict content, limit user access to services (by blocking or throttling), or discriminate against non-harmful applications or user-supplied edge equipment (for example, a router). An open Internet allows for competition in the marketplace, and choice for consumers in selecting a service provider. A key component of open access.

Public utility – A business that performs a public service essential to daily life, usually in a market with no or little direct competition. The government typically regulates utilities, wherein the regulation is a substitute for competition in the marketplace. Communications public utilities are called “common carriers.” Public utilities/common carriers are required to offer and provide service to all eligible applicants on just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, conditions and prices.

Title II – A section of the Communications Act of 1934 that defines rules and regulations for “common carriers,” including the prevention of discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities and services. The FCC’s Open Internet rules are partly based on Title II. In 2015, ISPs were classified as common carriers under Title II in an effort to protect net neutrality.

Encryption

Backdoor – A way to bypass of a normal method of authentication. In the case of encryption, a back door would allow an intruder to access encrypted information without having the right credentials bye either allowing the intruder to guess the access key based on the context of the message, or allowing the intruder to present a skeleton key that will always grants access.

Ciphertext – Data or information in its encrypted form.

Ciphertext – The use of mathematical techniques to provide security services, such as confidentiality, data integrity, entity authentication, and data origin authentication.

Decryption – The process of transforming ciphertext into its original plaintext.

Encryption – The process of transforming plaintext into ciphertext.

End-to-end encryption – An encryption process in which data is transformed into ciphertext on the sender’s device and decrypted on the receiver’s device. Interceptors cannot decipher the data as cryptographic keys are stored exclusively on the endpoint devices.

Key – The numerical value used to control cryptographic operations, such as decryption, encryption, signature generation, or signature verification.

Cybersecurity

Access – The ability and means to communicate with or otherwise interact with a system, to use system resources to handle information, to gain knowledge of the information the system contains, or to control system components and functions.

Air gap – The physical separation or isolation of a system from other systems or networks (noun), or to physically separate or isolate a system from other systems or networks (verb).

Attack signature – A characteristic or distinctive pattern that can be searched for or that can be used in matching to previously identified attacks.

Bot – A computer connected to the Internet that has been surreptitiously / secretly compromised with malicious logic to perform activities under remote the command and control of a remote administrator.

Botnet – A collection of computers compromised by malicious code and controlled across a network.

Cyber attack – An attack, via cyberspace, targeting an enterprise’s use of cyberspace for the purpose of disrupting, disabling, destroying, or maliciously controlling a computing environment/infrastructure; or destroying the integrity of the data or stealing controlled information

Cyber incident – Actions taken through the use of computer networks that result in an actual or potentially adverse effect on an information system and/or the information residing therein.

Data integrity – The property that data is complete, intact, and trusted and has not been modified or destroyed in an unauthorized or accidental manner.

Denial of Service (DoS) – An attack that prevents or impairs the authorized use of information system resources or services.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) – A denial of service technique that uses numerous systems to perform the attack simultaneously.

Intrusion detection – A security management system for computers and networks. An IDS gathers and analyzes information from various areas within a computer or a network to identify possible security breaches, which include both intrusions (attacks from outside the organization) and misuse (attacks from within the organization).

Phishing – A digital form of social engineering to deceive individuals into providing sensitive information.

RansomDoS – An attack that continues to prevent or impair authorized use of information system resources or services until a sum of money is paid.

Ransomware – A malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.

Open Markets/Innovation

Duopoly – A market structure in which two sellers or producers dominate the market. The broadband market throughout most of the U.S. is a duopoly.

Oligopoly – A market structure in which a small number of sellers or producers dominates the market.

Protectionism – The theory or practice of shielding an industry from competition by taxation or other means. By definition, this is done to protect domestic markets from international competition, but protectionism also happens within domestic industries when companies holding a majority of the market share attempt to protect it through political or legal action, creating an unfair marketplace.

Data Collection & Retention

Biometric identifier – According to the Texas Government Code, a biometric identifier is a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or record of hand or face geometry.

Data aggregation – The process of gathering and combining data from different sources, so that the combined data reveals new information.

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) – A 1986 amendment to Title III of the Federal Wiretap Act of 1968 which was updated to address the interception of computer and other types of electronic communication, and protects data in storage and in transit. ECPA has not been updated since 1986, and in its current form, emails that have been stored on a provider’s server for over 180 days can be accessed by law enforcement without obtaining a warrant. Since the way we use technology to communicate has changed drastically since 1986, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to reform ECPA to protect privacy.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) – Enacted in 1978, FISA established procedures for surveillance for the purpose of collecting foreign intelligence information. FISA established the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, sometimes referred to as FISA court, to oversee requests for surveillance warrants by federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. It also allows for warrantless surveillance of non “U.S. persons.” FISA was amended in 2001 by the Patriot Act, in 2007 by the Protect American Act, and again in 2008 by the FISA Amendments Act.

Personal Identifying Information / Personally Identifiable Information (PII) – The information that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred.

Texas Privacy Act – An act that amends the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure to address email privacy concerns that have not been addressed in the federal ECPA. The act mandates that state law enforcement must obtain a warrant to access electronic communications stored on a provider’s server.