Submission + - Online privacy invasion by Adobe Inc.
Rafael Quawrells Sr. writes: "Dear Editor,
I am an assistant network administrator whom is employed by a south-central Nebraska Internet Service Provider. I got off work today at 5pm and followed my normal routine, I arrived at home, I sat down to my personal computer on my private home network and began checking email. As I was performing my normal daily activities, my pc was idle, yet I notice my DSL modem passing a huge amount of traffic from the Internet. Being that I have quite an extensive knowledge of the Internet and it's associated protocols, I began with searching my private network's firewall. The first thing I noticed was over 7000 connections from a popular company known as Adobe Inc.
As you can imagine I was very concerned as to why Adobe would need over 7000 connections to my private home network. I was able to pin down the IP address subnet of the device on Adobe's network. All of the connections were coming from 2 IP's within Adobe's subnet. The IP range is 192.150.18.0/24 which allows 256 addresses minus 2, 1 for the network and 1 for broadcast. The devices that had connections were coming from 192.150.18.118 and 192.150.18.60.
Once I had aquired this bit of information, I picked up the phone and contacted Adobe's technical support. Of course I played the waiting game on hold for a grand total of 1.25 hrs. I spoke with a technician in this department named Caitlin who quickly assured me that Adobe does not scan private networks for anything without the consent of the owner of the network. I begged to differ. I explained to Caitlin that I have detailed firewall logs that indicate multiple devices on Adobe's network that was invading my privacy. She quickly suggested that I speak to another technician and I was once again playing the waiting game on hold.
After the lengthy hold, I now had a gentleman by the name of Mike on the phone who also assured me that Adobe does not scan private networks for any reason. I was beginning to become upset. The technical support department of Adobe is basically calling me a liar, when I have the firewall logs right before my eyes. Mike was very rude, finalizing the conversation by hanging up in my face. I then turned to Jim Fitzgerald whom is this IP range's technical contact. I left a message on his voicemail, and have yet to receive an return call.
Is it typical practice of Adobe Inc. to illegally invade individual's privacy and scan their private networks? And if so, what was Adobe Inc. looking for?
I at no time gave Adobe or any sub-division within, any consent to scan my private home network for anything.
Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Confused and somewhat violated in Grand Island, Nebraska"
