Once upon a time ISPs just transported packets of information from place to place without looking at them other than to find out where they should go. Of course that could not last. Now a company is selling ISPs a device designed to spy on customer traffic, track preferences and insert specially selected ads during Web surfing.Start-up NebuAd seems to be trying to put all ISP-related, bad network-behavior into a single box. It is trying to sell a device that, according to its Web page, will “analyze and act on consumer behavior” in order to develop a “keen insight into a consumer’s dynamic, Web-wide behavior.” Basically, the device spies on traffic to try to determine the “demographics, geography, life style and interests” of individual customers (see the Web site for NebuAd’s Fair Eagle division). The box then inserts ads into the data stream the customer is receiving back from a Web site. This is done without the knowledge or permission of the customer or the Web site owner. Source - NetworkWold (Props, Fergie's Tech Blog)

Source: PogoWasRight - Internet and Computers