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Here's how your router collects data and handles your privacy

Wi-Fi router companies say they don't track the websites you visit, but all of them collect and share user data for marketing
 
by Ry Crist 

Part 5 - Is my data being sold?

I also asked the companies I looked into for this post whether or not they sell data that could be used to personally identify a user, as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. That law defines a "sale" broadly to include, "selling, renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or otherwise communicating orally, in writing, or by electronic or other means, a consumer's personal information by the business to another business or a third party for monetary or other valuable consideration."

Most of the companies indicate in their privacy policies that they do not sell personal data, but the CommScope privacy policy acknowledges that it shares information, including identifiers as well as internet and other network activity information, for purposes including marketing in a way that qualifies as a sale.

"Data used for some of our business operations like order fulfillment and performance analytics as well as the use of 'cookies' on our CommScope.com and Surfboard.com websites may constitute the 'sale' of 'personal information' under a conservative reading of the California law," a CommScope representative says.

There's some nuance to that "yes" on the question of whether or not the company sells data, especially since things like order fulfillments and cookies on CommScope's website don't directly relate to the use of CommScope home networking hardware. Still, it's noteworthy that the company acknowledges that some of its practices may constitute a sale under California law when the majority of the manufacturers I looked at did not.

"We can say that we do not sell data collected from the modems nor is that data used for marketing purposes by CommScope," the company added. "But where modems are ordered from us directly or where we provide customer support, that information is 'sold' (our read of the California law) only as part of filling that order and providing those services.

"Where we supply modems/gateways to service providers, they control their own privacy policy controls," the company added.

Users in California have the right to tell CommScope not to sell their data on this website, but CommScope says that it "reserves the right to take a different approach" when responding to requests from users who live elsewhere.

Meanwhile, TP-Link tells CNET that it does not sell user personal data and that none of the data collected by its routers are used for marketing at all. Still, the company's privacy policy appears to create wiggle room on the topic: "We will not sell your personal information unless you give us permission. However, California law defines 'sale' broadly in such a way that the term sale may include using targeted advertising on the Products or Services, or how third party services are used on our Products and Services."

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