The debut of Cisco’s Connect Cloud service this week has been marred by technical problems and some serious disconnects between user expectations of privacy and Cisco’s apparent eagerness to monitor user data.
The new Connect Cloud service is Cisco’s attempt to introduce a new way for home and small-business owners to manage their Internet routers. Past methods, such as a browser-based interface to a control server within the router itself or an installed application on a network-connected machine, have been local. Cisco’s new service will be based remotely, enabling users to manage their router’s settings in the cloud.
While interesting on paper, the actual launch has not gone well since rollout on June 26. Using the new service requires either a manual update to the firmware on Cisco’s E2700, E3500 or E4500 routers, or an automatic update to that firmware.
But because the Automatic Firmware Update setting is activated by default when these routers are shipped, a lot of customers have suddenly been stuck with a very new interface to their router controls – even without specifically choosing to update their systems. Worse, it wasn’t just a jarring new interface: To use Connect Cloud, users have to also register for a Cloud Service account.
To make matters worse, it appears that even users who wanted to manually update their firmware were having problems.
The Real Damage Is to Privacy
But the real damage from this product debut goes beyond the technology. Sharp-eyed users almost immediately noticed this controversial clause buried in the Connect Cloud privacy policy (cached):
“When you use the Service, we may keep track of certain information related to your use of the Service, including but not limited to the status and health of your network and networked products; which apps relating to the Service you are using; which features you are using within the Service infrastructure; network traffic (e.g., megabytes per hour); internet history; how frequently you encounter errors on the Service system and other related information (‘Other Information’)”
The notion that Cisco would be monitoring users’ traffic and usage patterns is hugely unsettling to Cisco customers, who have become very vocal in their disapproval.
Cisco has since removed the offending clause from the privacy policy, and Brett Wingo, General Manager of Cisco’s Home Networking Business unit, posted a
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