About ten years after starting its high speed internet quest, Google Fiber is expanding again. Availability in the city of West Des Moines, IA adds its first new market in four years. It will be a tenant, leasing space in an open conduit network that the city is building, with plans to offer service throughout the entire network. A blog post by director of corporate development David Finn noted some “mistakes” made in the project’s history, but reaffirmed a commitment to increasing broadband access.

Since Google Fiber first launched, gigabit internet speeds (at least down) have become available in more places from more providers, but there’s still many underserved areas of the country, or places that could use some competition. Initial hopes that Google would be the one to push giants like Comcast and Verizon (the owner of Engadget’s parent company) may have been too ambitious, but they’re apparently not done yet.

Mozilla’s effort to secure domain name requests now has a major new ally: Comcast. The cable giant’s Xfinity brand has become the first internet provider to provide encrypted DNS services through Mozilla’s Trusted Recursive Resolver program. If you’re a Firefox user with Xfinity service, it should be that much harder for people to snoop on your website requests or intercept them for attacks.

The technique needs companies like Comcast to help due to its very nature. In addition to encrypting the data using DNS over HTTPS, Mozilla needs to ensure that companies managing the data have rules that limit data collection, provide transparency for that data and prevent the domain name resolver from either blocking access or modifying the content. Companies like Cloudflare and NextDNS have already signed on.

Cox contacted Mike via phone and email saying they needed to talk to him about his internet use. The company reportedly warned Mike that “adjustments need to be made immediately,” or else his service would be terminated. Then, Cox told Mike in an email that “… we’ve adjusted our Gigablast upload speeds in your neighborhood from 35Mbps to 10Mbps, now through July 15, 2020.”

Cox, a company with 5.2 million broadband users across the US, didn’t directly address questions from Ars Technica asking why it couldn’t handle Mike’s overnight data usage. It did say that neighborhood-wide slowdowns and warnings to individual customers “are two separate initiatives that could cross over in some cases.” Cox said the change in Mike’s neighborhood came because “performance can be improved for all customers in the neighborhood.” The company also defended the 10 Mbps rate, saying, “10Mbps is plenty of speed for the vast majority of customers to continue their regular activity and have a positive experience.”

Mike and others speculate that Cox is struggling to keep up with increased broadband traffic brought on by the pandemic. Cox, however, said its “network is performing very well overall.” Mike’s situation isn’t typical — the average US household isn’t using 12TB of data each month. However, for Cox to not provide a whole neighborhood of customers with what they’re paying for because one person is using a lot of bandwidth, especially during a pandemic, doesn’t sound like good customer service.

Interestingly, one “Big Browser” company has a feature that’s a useful tool in this context. Like the way Apple can’t “read” your iPhone’s data (specifically, Apple can’t decrypt it), Google can only share what it can “read.” You can password protect your Chrome data by following the instructions here. 

Anyway, to validate the concerns a lot of you are having about your surveillance and privacy defenses, it’s important to know that the company running your browser goes on your Patriot Act 2020 “adversary” list. Even though, in this instance, companies like Apple and Google (etc.) are the ones having changes forced on them — putting them in a position that’s sure to destroy user trust at scale. Engadget reached out to Apple and Google for comment on this matter and did not receive a response by time of publication.

Now, I know some of you are reading and saying, that’s it, I’m just going to use DuckDuckGo from now on, I know for a fact they oppose this and they’ve got my back. DuckDuckGo, a VPN, and a full-body condom ought to do it. Except you’ll need a VPN that already doesn’t cooperate with FISA warrants. It’s possible. Interestingly, NordVPN’s Warrant Canary has strong language stating it has never handed over user data. But to order those body condoms, you still need internet access.

That’s why your internet service provider (ISP) should probably go higher on your Patriot Act 2020 “adversary” list than Big Browser. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into AT&T, Comcast, Google Fiber, T-Mobile, and Verizon after “T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T were selling their mobile customers’ location information to third-party data brokers despite promising not to do so,” according to Ars Technica. And in case you didn’t know the background on it, the EFF proved in court that “Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T [participated] in the NSA’s mass telephone records collection under the Patriot Act.”

(If you want to get into the details of ISPs, DNS, and protecting data in that context, check out what Mozilla is trying to do in The Facts: Mozilla’s DNS over HTTPs)

In infosec lingo, when it comes to Patriot Act 2020, your ISP is an attacker in a privileged position. And right now we depend on the internet for, well, almost our very lives. Lives which require privacy — a human right.

2020 is many things, and one of those things seems to be an agonizingly long version of the infamous “Leave Britney Alone” video, except it’s us, and we’re at the tear-streaked breaking point over our data privacy. Now that we’re essentially trapped online most of our waking hours, we feel more used, stressed, poked, prodded, extorted, angry, tricked, and helplessly subjected to violations about our data than ever. It’s exhausting at a time when everything seems exhausting.

For now, we can focus on how to control the things we can, like doing privacy self-checks or take inventory of app settings. We get to know tools like VPNs and start to use things that end-to-end encrypt our communications — we practice doing things that shore up our defenses a bit more than before. 

While we do that, we’ll have to flex one of the less popular survival skills — we wait. The ghastly changes to the Patriot Act, a thing that was already a shambling disaster of failed protections and rights violations, may still face a challenge or two before getting an Oval Office signature. Though even if McConnell’s amendment doesn’t squeak through this time, we now know that lawmakers at the top want an unprecedented, Facebook-level of spying and control over our online lives. 

We just thought that trajectory was the stuff of implausible video games and far-out films — which, turns out, are a lot less entertaining to live through.

Telecoms will have to provide “alternative methods of communication” if the outbreak prevents repairs to landlines. They’ll likewise have to ensure customers are “treated fairly” if they have a hard time paying their bills.

ISPs have already made some accommodations of their own, but this should ensure a consistent level of service across these larger companies. Not that there was necessarily much choice. Many of those still employed now have to work from home, and the internet is likely to be a key source of entertainment. While that sudden shift is putting added strain on networks, allowing business as usual could have led to widespread disconnections and overage charges at the worst possible time.

Yesterday Comcast and AT&T were among ISPs announced some relaxed policies to help people suddenly stuck at home due to countermeasures taken in the fight against COVID-19. Today, along with an announcement that wireless carriers are suspending cancellations and expanding access, Comcast, the largest ISP in the US, followed up with a slew of new policies that will be in effect for the next 60 days to help people stay connected.

For the time being, it’s suspending the data plan that capped bandwidth usage at 1TB per month, and it’s opening access to Xfinity WiFi for free to everyone. The Internet Essentials program for low-income families that costs $9.95 per month will be free to new subscribers for the first two months, and it has also committed to no disconnects or late fees.

Comcast is focussing on its Internet Essentials program, which provides broadband to low-income Americans for $9.95 per month. Now, new, qualifying customers can sign up for 60 days at no cost, and Comcast is boosting broadband speeds for all Internet Essentials customers. Over the next few days, it will bump speeds from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps, and it will maintain those speeds going forward.

AT&T is taking a slightly different approach, removing usage caps. Until now, some customers have seen usage caps ranging from 150 GB to 1 terabyte per month, Motherboard explains. Users who surpassed those limits could be penalized $10 per additional 50 gigabytes, or more. It’s unclear if those caps will come back when the pandemic settles down.

We may see more ISPs taking action to improve internet speeds, access and usage soon. Today, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel called on the FCC to take aggressive action in response to COVID-19. We don’t know yet what that will look like, but if AT&T and Comcast are any indication, it could include a push to increase speeds and lift data caps.

As a result of the #coronavirus people across this country are going to be asked to move work and learning online. So NOW is a really good time for the FCC to take action to get our nation’s broadband providers to lift data caps and remove overage fees. https://t.co/1qJV7whVsR

— Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) March 12, 2020

San Juan’s infrastructure and UNESCO world heritage sites have made it challenging to provide fiber connectivity through Old San Juan. But that makes it an ideal city to test Facebook’s Terragraph system, the 60GHz millimeter-wave wireless tech that blasts internet through buildings along a network of short-distance cell towers. This offers an alternative to costly fiber-optic lines, and the Terragraph device can be attached to existing infrastructure, like street lights and utility poles.

“Looking ahead, we are excited about the potential opportunities Terragraph provides to expand high-quality gigabit internet experience throughout the island of Puerto Rico,” said Gino Villarini, AeroNet’s founder and president.

Facebook first announced Terragraph in 2016, and last year, the startup Common Networks began using it to deliver 5G home broadband in Alameda, California. It has also been tested in San Jose, and Qualcomm is putting Terragraph tech in its chipsets, so that manufacturers can build 60GHz broadcast equipment.

The bundle does give you a Chromecast Ultra and Stadia controller to keep, but you’re getting the same three-month trial of Stadia Pro that any Premiere Edition buyer gets. You’ll have to keep subscribing at $10 per month if you want Pro features beyond that, or else resign yourself to using the free 1080p tier when it’s ready. You also have to use the promo code for Stadia within 60 days of receiving it, so you can’t sit on the deal until there are enough games to make you happy.

This does stack on top of the Disney+ one-year deal, mind you, and you can always cancel before the Stadia Pro trial is over. Think of it as a way to flex your internet connection’s muscle and wind up with a couple of goodies when all is said and done.

The service started at a time when gigabit access was rare, and the average American internet speed was “crawling in single digits,” according to Google. Flash forward to 2019 and it’s a different story, with AT&T, Comcast and others offering gigabit broadband options. Google also pointed to rapidly growing demands on internet connections like streaming video, smart home devices and (of course) gaming.

Appropriately, Google said it would give new Fiber customers the option to sign up for YouTube TV at the same time, starting on December 5th.

To a degree, Google’s decision reflects practical reality. You’re typically choosing Fiber for the speed, so why keep a plan that’s neither particularly fast nor the cheapest? This still takes an option away, though, and it might put Fiber out of reach for homes where $70 broadband is too costly.