A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Online privacy
takes a hit
from Congress
C
ongress did American
consumers a great
disservice recently
when it dismantled an online
privacy regulation that would
have prevented internet service
providers such as Comcast,
AT&T and Verizon from
selling the browsing habits and
other information about their
customers.
The move came in a bill
sent to President Donald
Trump that will kill a Federal
Communications Commission
rule that was issued in October
and was designed to give
consumers greater control
over how internet service
providers share information.
The rule was scheduled to go
into effect later this year, and
the decision essentially reverts
to the status quo rather than
giving consumers additional
protections that the Obama
administration sought before
leaving offi ce.
The decision was decried
by consumer groups and
Democrats but lauded by most
Republicans and telecom
companies. The 215-205 vote
in the House, though, was
closer than many expected
with 15 Republicans siding
with the Democrats in the
failed effort to keep the rule in
place. The Senate had already
voted to repeal it and Trump is
expected to sign the bill despite
the American Civil Liberties
Union’s populist appeals for a
presidential veto.
Opponents of the rule argued
that ISPs like Comcast and
AT&T should not face more
stringent privacy rules than
online companies such as
Facebook and Google, which
collect user information and
generate billions of dollars
selling it.
Privacy proponents,
however, countered that ISPs
are far different because they
have access to users’ full web
browsing habits, what devices
and applications they use, their
online locations along with
their physical addresses, their
fi nancial information and even
with whom they exchange
emails. That robust amount
of information is particularly
useful for marketers to craft
highly targeted ads, which
is part of the fundamental
business model of many online
companies.
With the repeal, internet
providers won’t be required
to notify customers they
collect data about or even ask
permission beyond a user’s
initial approval of the terms
of service agreement. As a
result, many people may not
even realize their patterns and
profi les are being brokered.
So what steps should online
users and consumers take?
Privacy experts recommend
consumers thoroughly
familiarize themselves with the
privacy policy of their ISP and
specifi cally try opt out of data
collection.
Another potential option is to
use a Virtual Private Network,
which provides private end-
to-end internet connections
and are typically used to keep
out snoops when using public
Wi-Fi. There are free and paid-
for VPN providers, but they
are also in a position to track
online activities. Choosing a
trustworthy provider, as Wired.
com points out, can be a “tricky
thing to confi rm.” Additionally,
VPN privacy protections are
limited because once a user
logs into a website like Netfl ix
or Amazon, those sites track
users’ activities so they can
suggest tailored products and
services.
According to Nuala
O’Connor, president and CEO
of the Center for Democracy &
Technology, a non-profi t digital
rights group, the best course
of action for those concerned
about what’s collected about
them is to practice “digital
privacy hygiene” by giving as
little information as possible
when doing things online, to
minimize the digital footprint
available to companies.
Importantly, if there was any
question before, consumers
should now know that Congress
isn’t on the side of their online
privacy protection.
Curious Parker and the
Man in the Yellow Hat
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
My mom has said she should
have named me George — not af-
ter my paternal great-grandfather
but rather after the curious rascal
monkey.
However, that wouldn’t make
any sense, because he lived with
the Man in the Yellow Hat — and
I live with my parents and my big
brother. I am 15 months old, and
my name is Parker.
I do feel like George some-
times, though. He is always try-
ing to do good things, and it’s not
his fault when they don’t turn out
right.
My Momma is always asking
us to help clean up the house. So
after getting chocolate all over
the TV remote, I thought I would
help by washing it. I dropped it
in the water, but it didn’t come
clean — so I thought I’d just let it
“soak for a bit” like Momma does
with the dishes. Then my brother
came in and saw what I was do-
ing.
Instead of smiling, he started
hollering. I don’t know what he
was so worked up about. I was
standing right there watching the
remote; it wasn’t going anywhere.
Suddenly, my parents were there
too, and before I knew it, I was
whisked out of the bathroom.
I heard Momma groan as she
pulled the remote out of the toi-
let. I didn’t have any better luck
when I tried to wash her hot roll-
ers.
Now the bathroom is off limits
to me. I just don’t understand; I
was only trying to help her clean
like she had asked.
I try to help in other ways too.
Our dog is getting older and I
keep hearing my parents say we
have to watch her food — make
sure it’s good enough for her. I
tried to help by sampling it. It
smelled pretty bad, and I couldn’t
help but make nasty faces. I
crammed my cheeks full of soft
beef chunks in gravy.
It made me
want to gag, but
for the good of
the dog I tried to
keep it all in. Even
when my Mom-
ma came running
Brianna
in shouting, I
Walker
squeezed my eyes
shut and willed
my tongue to swallow.
Before I could decide if the
food was “good enough” or not,
my Momma had her finger be-
tween my teeth and was scraping it
out.
I tried explaining how I was
helping the dog — but for as old
as they are, they aren’t very flu-
ent in baby. Momma washed out
my mouth and face, and when I
was clean again, she plopped me
on the floor with a bowl of apple
slices. I think the dog should skip
her food and come eat mine — it
tastes a lot better.
To save time, I tried to get my-
self dressed one morning. I went
to my dresser and started looking
at my clothes. What to wear? The
white shirt? I pulled it out of the
drawer and tried to press it on my
head. I pressed and smashed. No
luck. It must be too small.
So I tossed it aside. I tried the
blue one. Same thing. And the
green one. I decided all the shirts
in that drawer were too small. I
know that Momma likes to take
out the clothes that don’t fit any-
more to make room for the bigger
ones.
So I thought I would save
her some time, and I unloaded
the entire contents of the draw-
er onto the floor. When she saw
me, she had the same look as the
Man with the Yellow Hat when he
sighs “Oh George...”
I tried to help load the dish-
washer too. I filled it full of all
kinds of dirty things: shoes,
coins, pencils and my sippy cup. I
managed to get the detergent out
of the cupboard and climbed onto
the door and sat down next to the
soap dispenser.
But that’s as far as I could get
— that stupid cap was so stuck I
couldn’t open it.
That’s when my Momma came
in. I tried to ask her for help, but
she was already scooping me
right off of the door. She plopped
me on the floor and I watched
sadly as she undid all of my hard
work and reloaded it with just
dishes.
My efforts don’t seem to go
unnoticed so much as unappreci-
ated.
I tried to help Daddy take bolts
off the rototiller, I tried to reorga-
nize his tool box, I tried to prime
the grease gun — and each time I
got pulled away and set down far
away with some really dumb toys
called “Plastic” and “Unbreak-
able.”
It wasn’t my fault I dropped
the screwdriver down the air
vent.
The cat scared me. I didn’t
mean to lose the kitchen door
knob either. It just came off in
my hands.
I took it because I thought it
might open the bathroom door.
When that didn’t work I just put
it somewhere. If I could remem-
ber where, I would get it — really
I would.
I see that look on her face
again. It really does look just
like the Man in the Yellow Hat.
Kind of a mix between sad and
frustrated and maybe a little
upset.
But I wasn’t doing anything
bad. I was just dumping this bas-
ket into the garbage can. You al-
ways say you hate this “Bill Bas-
ket.” I was trying to make you
happy. You know, maybe I should
get you a yellow hat for Mother’s
Day.
Then you could look like the
Mom in the Yellow Hat. I think
the blanket in the spare room is
just the right shade of yellow
too.
Brianna Walker writes about
the Farmer’s Fate for the Blue
Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Sanctuary cities
W HERE TO W RITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-
575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax:
541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@centu-
rylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day,
97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-
575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityofl ong-
creek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025.
Email: cityofmonument@centurytel.
net.
To the Editor:
I’m not able to do many things
anymore, so I follow the news as
best as I can. I watch the major
news channels on TV so I can fol-
low different views on things. It’s
hard to believe how divided our
country has become. All of the po-
litically correct and racial slander
garbage is enough to make me sick!
Anyway, I have been listening
to all this stuff on sanctuary cities,
and so I went on the web and found
a map of the United States that list-
ed cities, counties and states. And I
found that most of Oregon is shown
as a sanctuary area. I fi gured the west
side would be listed, but was shocked
to fi nd Grant County on the list sup-
porting the idea. Now to be clear I am
not against legal immigration — ille-
gal, no way. I vote, and I follow local
news, including available minutes of
city and county meetings.
I don’t recall any discussion of
Grant County becoming a sanctuary
area. I certainly didn’t get a chance
to discuss it with the powers that be,
nor did I get to vote yes or no. Does
anyone know?
Dan Graikowski
John Day
Editor’s note: Oregon statute
prohibits law enforcement agen-
cies of the state from using agency
funds, equipment or personnel to
fi nd and arrest people whose only
offense is being “persons of foreign
citizenship present in the United
States in violation of federal immi-
gration laws.”
L
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