Tor Project

Comcast has lately found itself issuing public apologies on a somewhat regular basisas subscribers share tales of horrible customer service.

But the latest accusation leveled against Comcastthat it is threatening to disconnectcustomers who use the anonymity-providing Tor browserhasn't been backed by convincing evidence that it's happening. And Comcast dismisses the rumor as wildly inaccurate.

It began Saturday with a site called DeepDotWeb claiming that Comcast has declared war on Tor Browser.

Reports have surfaced (Via /r/darknetmarkets and another one submitted to us) that Comcast agents have contacted customers using Tor and instructed them to stop using the browser or risk termination of service, the article said. A Comcast agent named Jeremy allegedly called Tor an illegal service. The Comcast agent told its customer that such activity is against usage policies. The Comcast agent then repeatedly asked the customer to tell him what sites he was accessing on the Tor browser. The customer refused to answer. The next day the customer called Comcast and spoke to another agent named Kelly who reiterated that Comcast does not want its customers using Tor.

Kelly allegedly told the customer that Users who try to use anonymity, or cover themselves up on the Internet, are usually doing things that arent so-to-speak legal. We have the right to terminate, fine, or suspend your account at anytime due to you violating the rules.

There was good reason to be skeptical of this report. A search of the subreddit /r/darknetmarketsfor Comcast and Tor turned up nothing. (UPDATE: Here is the reddit post quoted by DeepDotWeb.) Any organized Comcast campaign againstusers of Tor wouldlikely inspire numerouscustomer complaints, not just a few, as noted by Cato Institute Research Fellow Julian Sanchez and security researcher Robert Graham, who wrote on Twitter:

"This story is wildly inaccurate," Comcast spokesperson Charlie Douglas told Ars. "Customers are free to use their Xfinity Internet service to visit any website or use it however they wish otherwise."

While Comcast publishes an acceptable use policy, the company "doesnt monitor users browser software or Web surfing and has no program addressing the Tor browser," Douglas said.

In some previous cases where customers have documented poor customer service, Comcast has admitted fault and said its customer service agents acted in error. In this case, Comcast says it investigated the story and found no evidence that the encounters everhappened.

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Comcast calls rumor that it disconnects Tor users wildly inaccurate