The UK government has announced it will push for a law to force Internet service providers to store a record of their subscribers\u2019 web browsing history for a year.<\/p>\n
The draft Investigatory Powers Bill<\/strong><\/a> will govern the powers available to law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies, and the armed forces to acquire the content of communications or communications data.<\/p>\n The bill will allow police to identify which communications services a person or device has connected to \u2013 called \u201cInternet connection records\u201d.<\/p>\n UK home secretary Theresa May said it will not require the full web histories of users. Instead, it will store a record of the communications service a person has used.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, if someone has visited a social media website, an Internet Connection Record will only show that they accessed that site, not the particular pages they looked at,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n This raises the question as to what information, if any, South African ISPs record about their subscribers.<\/p>\n MyBroadband asked South Africa\u2019s top ISPs whether they record their subscribers\u2019 online browsing history, who has access to this information, and whether it can be linked to an individual.<\/p>\n Webafrica said <\/strong>it does not track activities beyond the amount of data used.<\/p>\n \u201cThe connectivity portion of our services is entirely controlled on IS side. We don\u2019t have insight beyond protocol on an aggregated level – i.e. not user level,\u201d said Webafrica CTO Alan Kirton.<\/p>\n MWEB CEO Derek Hershaw said<\/strong>\u00a0they only track aggregated usage behaviour over a rolling 30-day window for the purposes of managing and optimising the online experience across their customer base.<\/p>\n Cybersmart CEO Laurie Fialkov<\/strong> said they do not believe they are allowed to intercept traffic in terms of RICA, unless accompanied by a court order.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only way to record this is via a proxy, and we don\u2019t proxy or cache at this stage,\u201d said Fialkov.<\/p>\n Internet Solutions (IS) said<\/strong>\u00a0it does not record subscribers\u2019 online browsing history.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are bound by interception laws, namely the Interception act 2002 as mandated by the office of lawful intercept, and thus would comply with all interception requests once due process has been followed by the courts. This data is encrypted and not visible or accessible to us,\u201d said IS.<\/p>\n Telkom said<\/strong>\u00a0it does not record its subscribers\u2019 online browsing history.<\/p>\n How much ADSL ISPs know about what you do on the Internet<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n ADSL piracy legal warnings: Do you need to be worried?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nSouth African ISPs respond<\/h3>\n
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\n Questions to ADSL ISPs in South Africa<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Are you recording your Internet subscribers\u2019 online browsing history? If so, can you please give details?<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Telkom<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n MWEB<\/strong><\/td>\n We only track aggregated usage behaviour over a rolling 30-day window<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Afrihost<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Internet Solutions<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Axxess<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Vox Telecom<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Cybersmart<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Webafrica<\/strong><\/td>\n We don\u2019t track activities beyond the amount of data used on a user level.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Who has access to this browsing history inside the company?<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Telkom<\/strong><\/td>\n Not relevant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n MWEB<\/strong><\/td>\n Not relevant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Afrihost<\/strong><\/td>\n Not relevant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Internet Solutions<\/strong><\/td>\n Not relevant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Axxess<\/strong><\/td>\n Not relevant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Vox Telecom<\/strong><\/td>\n Not relevant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Cybersmart<\/strong><\/td>\n Not relevant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Webafrica<\/strong><\/td>\n Not relevant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n If this data is somehow leaked (or hacked), will it provide an identifiable browsing history of a user? (Will you be able to see which websites a certain user visited?)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Telkom<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n MWEB<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Afrihost<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Internet Solutions<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Axxess<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Vox Telecom<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Cybersmart<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Webafrica<\/strong><\/td>\n No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n More on Internet privacy<\/h3>\n