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Get Paid $30.00 for Sharing Your nbn Performance for Four Weeks @ Nielsen Panel

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Sign up to Nielsen's new "Broadband Panel", install their 'white box' device (plug in to your router via Ethernet), and install an app on your phone, then earn $30 if you stay connected for four weeks, and then $2.50 a month after that. And also each month after the first month you get a ticket in their monthly $1000 prize draw.

Note.. from their FAQ: "The Whitebox measures a wide range of network and application-specific properties, including download speed, upload speed, video streaming, online gaming stability, latency, and packet loss, to name just a few. We will not be able to view what you are “looking at” or viewing online, i.e. we won’t collect information about the content viewed by you. We will only collect the results of network testing. This does not include any packet data, which means no data is collected that reveals what websites you are looking at or the content of your down and uploads. We do not collect any of your private information, such as account passwords or banking information. As part of the contractual obligations, we are not permitted to share specific details with our client about our participants. In addition, our client will not seek to re-identify any de-identified information and, thereby, reveal the participants’ identities."

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closed Comments

  • +26

    Nice try ASIO…

    • +4

      https

    • I was thinking the PLA

    • "Download the safe and secure application to the necessary devices. Like the required device, the software is non invasive and doesn't affect any performance!"

      sounds like they are spying on your browsing habits, and who knows what else, by installing an app on your phone/PC….

  • +14

    My privacy is worth more then that.

    • +2

      From their 'Privacy' tab:

      Finally, in connection with your interaction and/or use of this Website, we will collect any content or material that you voluntarily upload or otherwise submit or transmit to us, including without limitation, photos, videos, images, and your likeness.

      "Without limitation" = this is the minimum we will collect but you can expect we will collect a whole bunch more.

      Sounds like a really rubbish deal for what amounts to handing your unlocked mobile phone and router to some market research company.

      • +2

        It does say "that you voluntarily upload" … I don't think this means that they're going to be siphoning data off your phone.

        • +2

          They are talking about you using the website - sounds like boiler plater terms for any site that might have user submitted data - registration for support or a public forum. Essentially they don't want you to sue for showing a photo you uploaded or using data you supplied wether thats on the page you uploaded it to or in the background of some marketing etc.

    • +1

      you are anyway giving it away for free being online

  • Does this require you to have the NBN?

    • +1

      NBN Co (“nbn”) has engaged us to administer the Nielsen Broadband Panel

      I guess so.

      • +1

        The eligibility requirements just say:

        "Anyone in Australia can sign up. All you need is:

        subscription to fixed Internet service"

  • Thanks. Interested, but what exactly are they monitoring?

    https://nbn-nielsenpanel.com/privacy

    • +16

      Your netbanking password

    • +1

      From their website FAQ… "The Whitebox measures a wide range of network and application-specific properties, including download speed, upload speed, video streaming, online gaming stability, latency, and packet loss, to name just a few.

      We will not be able to view what you are “looking at” or viewing online, i.e. we won’t collect information about the content viewed by you. We will only collect the results of network testing. This does not include any packet data, which means no data is collected that reveals what websites you are looking at or the content of your down and uploads. We do not collect any of your private information, such as account passwords or banking information. As part of the contractual obligations, we are not permitted to share specific details with our client about our participants. In addition, our client will not seek to re-identify any de-identified information and, thereby, reveal the participants’ identities."

      • Classic not answering the actual question, bit answer the question they want you to ask.

        I say be open, say what you are actually collecting & how. Not some diversionary we're not doing this bad stuff, so trust us!

        And yeah they need to be handing over more coin, like $200/4wks

        • Package data is everything, what else do they really need to find out what are you doing online?

    • Probably everything from data usage to signal strength to website history to time of day usage aka determining your personal peak and off peak times to actual wifi bandwidth throughput to your 69 fake Facebook and instagram accounts and more.

      But hey $2.50 per month is like a whole large coffee every 2 months free of charge so there is that.

      After 13 months that's $60.00 towards a whatever you want really so if you have nothing to hide and don't mind being monitored then this really is easy money.

      But for those of us who have something to hide or don't like having somebody looking over our backs then yeah nah no thanks mate.

      • website history

        How does it do this? You seem to know so much about it.

        • -1

          If they get access to your router or modem then they basically can read everything coming in and out.

          There are various programs built for this very thing just like someone can install a key logging monitor software on your pc and track your key presses from this comment you just typed to your online banking details to your private emails etc.

          Anything is possible when it comes to data and information.

          But that is the extreme side most likely they just want some harmless info like data usage stats and actual wifi performance but I mean the option is there if they decide to be a bit more intrusive or malicious.

          It says they will install a box to your modem / router via Ethernet so that should tell you that they can get whatever information they want probably even more than your ISP as they have you tapped at the source.

          You would have to hide your data somehow from that white box which is above my level of knowledge but encryption and other high level cyber security technology would have to be used.

          Yeah website history is definitely not private when passing through something like a router.

          • +2

            @AlienC: If your router supports vlan,you can create an isolated VLAN for this "box"

            • @PeppaCat: That is one way but I wonder what their reaction would be if they found out you did that.

              • @AlienC: Unless it's disallowed in the ToS then they can't do shit about it.

              • @AlienC: They wouldn't have any problem with that I imagine. They're running automated network tests, not collecting your traffic. The only issue with putting it on a private VLAN is that the app on your phone which presumably measures Wi-Fi throughput in connection with the whitebox, might not be able to communicate to the whitebox.

          • +7

            @AlienC:

            If they get access to your router or modem

            Right, plugging into the router allows it root access to the router.

            basically can read everything coming in and out.

            Sniffing encrypted packets is reading everything?

            someone can install a key logging monitor

            Irrelevant

            Yeah website history is definitely not private when passing through something like a router.

            Citation needed.

            Literally one of those conspiracy people.

            • +2

              @askbargain:

              Right, plugging into the router allows it root access to the router.

              You obviously haven't heard about the Netgear d4rkn3ss exploit affecting 79 router models & 758 firmware versions.

          • +3

            @AlienC: If they're just connected to the ethernet port on your router it does not mean they get every bit of traffic. Firstly your router would need to be a hub rather than a switch in it to see all traffic. Then if the traffic is encrypted then they can't read it. In fact almost all sites are HTTPS now even if they are able 'read everything coming in and out' they'll only be able to read the encrypted traffic.

            The one thign that may pass through the router that isn't encrypted is your DNS traffic (though browsers are starting to experiment with encrypted dns queries now). So IF, and that's a big IF that the device will try and intercept traffic, then they could potentially see that you're accessing www.facebook.com, but not the content, or www.ozbargain.com.au

            Yes, if your devices are broadcasting to the entire network then they could see that - but that type of traffic is very rare these days, however if you're browsing the internet or any point to point communication then it shouldn't hit their white box.

            If they asked you to install software on your pc, then that would be a whole other kettle of fish and cause for more concern.

            • @altonius:

              If they're just connected to the ethernet port on your router it does not mean they get every bit of traffic.

              That's an if where is it connected? Maybe its between your router & modem (or nbn box & router).

          • +2

            @AlienC: You probably shouldn’t comment on something with conviction when it’s a topic you scarcely know anything about.

            It confuses people and makes you look foolish.

          • @AlienC: Possibly they don't, but we don't know neither.

      • lol… it seems like these days you're either being monitor by android or ios… unless you give up ur mobile and back to stone age

    • +1

      What does the Broadband Panel collect?
      The Whitebox measures a wide range of network and application-specific properties, including download speed, upload speed, video streaming, online gaming stability, latency, and packet loss, to name just a few.

      We will not be able to view what you are “looking at” or viewing online, i.e. we won’t collect information about the content viewed by you. We will only collect the results of network testing. This does not include any packet data, which means no data is collected that reveals what websites you are looking at or the content of your down and uploads. We do not collect any of your private information, such as account passwords or banking information. As part of the contractual obligations, we are not permitted to share specific details with our client about our participants. In addition, our client will not seek to re-identify any de-identified information and, thereby, reveal the participants’ identities.

      For more information on the type of data being collected and privacy practices, please read our Privacy Policy and Member Agreement

      1. I would never trust them regardless of their claims.

      2. They claim they don't collect packet data and "We will not be able to view what you are looking at or viewing online" but refer to video streaming, online gaming stability". However if they're not looking at your packets, they wouldn't know what type of traffic it is (video, gaming, etc).

      This is like the line the government gave us about metadata not being data (they lied, it is). In this case they are clearly accessing packet data like headers, etc. I assume they are referring to packet payloads as the "packet data" that they aren't collecting.

      This means, they would still be seeing where you're traffic is going, what kind of traffic it is, etc. So they wouldn't necessarily know what you were watching on Pornhub for example, but they would know that you spend 20 hours in the last week watching it.

      That's a hard no from me.

      • +1

        Yep always consider the worst case scenario before doing anything and if you are not comfortable with that then don't proceed.

        In this scenario basically imagine they see every thing you physically see and more maybe even hidden remote access who knows.

        Can't trust many things these days especially anything to do with the internet.

        Stay safe every body.

      • +1

        As a counter point to item 2, why couldn't their white box be recording stats of the white box itself trying streaming and testing gaming stability scenarios. Doesn't mean they need to play a game or watch an entire video, but it can be automated to perform simulations of this type of network activity, rather than inspecting your traffic.

        • +1

          This seems more likely. Because your router won't be sending any of the actual traffic to the white box. If they put it between your router and NTU that'd be a different story, but just being plugged-in to an ethernet port would mean mostly they could only run their own testing, and not be monitoring what else is going on within your network.

          I'm still not comfortable putting an unknown box within my LAN though. Not for $30.

          • @bteq: …unless it also connects to your WiFi, in which case it could read all WiFi traffic (hopefully that's what the app is for, not the white box, and at least phones have more protections on that front).

      • +2

        I can't see how they would be able to see your Pornhub traffic. That won't be passing through an Ethernet port to other devices on the network. It wouldn't even be able to see the DNS calls because they'd be routed straight to the WAN port. It'd have to just be running its own tests, and at most sniffing broadcast data. UNLESS the white box also wants your WiFi password. Then it could see it.

  • +1

    If you want to know the good stuff just ask.

    Lol why does this whole project / operation feel like the 2020 equivalent of the guys monitoring the bad guys from the white unmarked fake company van but less genius lol haha.

  • The scammers are getting smarter.

    • +1

      It's not a scam…

      https://www.whois.com/whois/nbn-nielsenpanel.com

      The domain is owned by Nielsen which is a huge international research company.

      • -3

        they'll use your data to sell on black market/marketing companies/government agencies etc.

        • +1

          Well yeah. They're literally being paid by NBNCo to do exactly that, they're not hiding it.

      • WHOIS information doesn't really matter, it is filled by the user and I can put anything in the WHOIS.

  • +2

    How is this a bargain?

    • -4

      Free money, for something you don't have to do an awful lot for.

      • +7

        It isn't free - you are giving them a large amount of valuable data about you and everyone else you live with.

        • +6

          Are you talking about Facebook, insta, insert any other social media platform?

      • +2

        except for handing over an awful lot of personal information

  • +3

    'You will need to have at least 300 points before you start redeeming!'

    I'm assuming that this means each redemption is min 300 points. So despite getting points for all the signup and monitoring steps, you only hit 300 on the 4th week, then every 12 months.

  • +4

    I think I can manage to abstain from 4chan for four weeks…

    • Just download the stuff you need locally so you can get your daily fix without having to access anything outside your computer or your network.

      I should be good for a few ice ages by my last count.

      Good old work.txt

      • +1

        thats not how 4chan works…..

  • Was trying to skim through their privacy policy and I could not find what sort of data the smart device collects? All I find is that, the personal info that we may have shared during the registration/recruitment process could be used/shared.

    I am not sure, unless they specify that?
    1. Is my browsing history collected?
    2. No. or type of devices connected to my router?
    3. Speedtests/latency/ping tests during the time?

    • It's in their FAQ. See my comment above…

      • +2

        But their FAQ is quite misleading.

        The FAQ also claims details of what's collected is in the privacy policy, but from my reading I can't see any detail in the policy about what they collect via the WhiteBox, only what they collect as part of your registering in the program. I'm guessing this is because they are claiming that the network traffic they are collecting isn't private data, but I'd disagree.

  • The Nielsen Broadband Panel program was developed to assess Australia consumers’ Internet services and determine the status of broadband service performance across Australia. By using the internet as you do every day, we invite you to make a difference and earn redeemable rewards points!

  • +4

    From their FAQs:

    What does the Broadband Panel collect?

    The Whitebox measures a wide range of network and application-specific properties, including download speed, upload speed, video streaming, online gaming stability, latency, and packet loss, to name just a few.

    We will not be able to view what you are “looking at” or viewing online, i.e. we won’t collect information about the content viewed by you. We will only collect the results of network testing. This does not include any packet data, which means no data is collected that reveals what websites you are looking at or the content of your down and uploads. We do not collect any of your private information, such as account passwords or banking information. As part of the contractual obligations, we are not permitted to share specific details with our client about our participants. In addition, our client will not seek to re-identify any de-identified information and, thereby, reveal the participants’ identities.

    For more information on the type of data being collected and privacy practices, please read our Privacy Policy and Member Agreement

    Registered, I want to give them a chance.

    • Can I have a look at your browser history? I promise, I just want to see how many sites you visit, I won't look at what sites you go to. Promise. Give me a chance? :P

      • +2

        Did you read the FAQ? Or are you just making assumptions?

        • +1

          Details on what they'll collect have been referenced many times. Not sure if he hasn't bothered reading them or if he (and others) simply don't believe the assurances given. A degree of skepticism is always good but the fact is that Nielson's reputation (and NBNCo's for that matter) would take an enormous hit if it was shown that they're collecting more than they claim. Rest assured someone will know if that's the case. Seems a pretty good deal for those interested.

  • Reading through the website, the whitebox appears to be a black TP-link Archer C7 wifi router? so… free router?

    • You’ll have to give it back when you are done though:

      By clicking the "Opt-Out" button below you will notify Nielsen that you no longer want to participate in the Nielsen Broadband Panel. To complete the process you must also return the Whitebox.

  • +2

    What's stopping people from connecting it to a secondary router which isn't used for much? maybe a smart plug or light?

    • As long as the router can connect to internet, it shouldn't matter I suppose.

    • assume they think most people won't bother, and maybe they won't pay up if you don't have real traffic…

  • +2

    OP, is this a referral link?

    • nope…

      • Why does the URL contain campaign and transaction IDs if it is not a referral or tacking link?

  • Would be keen to know what they ask in the phone screening

  • +2

    Too invasive

  • +7

    I'm kind of interested to get one and put it in a sandbox and see what it does.

    • Yes that would be very interesting! Let us know

    • Keep us posted!

    • You would be our legend if you end up doing that.

      Real winner right here.

  • Shower thought: Connect the device to a VPN enabled router which exits somewhere in Australia. Not sure if this can go undetected and still comply with terms.

  • -6

    The same idiots who use a sticky note on their monitor to remind them of their password, are the people who will take up this deal with no regards to privacy.

  • +1

    It appears they use a company called SamKnows to track speeds: https://samknows.com/realspeed/

  • Damm too bad I dont have NBN.

    • You don't have to…

      • +1

        One of the questions is do you have an NBN connection.

        • yeah but doesn't mean they'll screen you out if you don't, it presumably just puts you in the category of people that don't.

    • Me neither no NBN here refused too connect, and my fixed wireless is normally 180/125 see if NBN can do that.!

      • We have NBN here but i refuse to connect to it as it is much more expensive. TPG FTTB is $59.99 Unlimited 100/40 closest NBN plan is like $99 Aussie Broadband.

        :)

  • -1

    I assume from all the negs that everyone on here has abandoned all social networking that collect far more data than any 'whitebox' ever would and then use that data in unbelievable ways to manipulate. Every time government is even loosely involved in communications data collection; they are the bad guys. Read up on how social networking sites collect data in surreptitious means and then use that data - then you will know what scary really is.

    • -1

      Social media isn’t collecting our banking passwords, email passwords, etc.

      And plus it can easily be managed, e.g using containers on Firefox that prevent cross site tracking.

      • -1

        Neither is this.

    • +3

      People install TikTok without any haste or thoughts

    • +1

      You do make a good point, but it needn't be black and white - do nothing online or allow everyone access to your info. Cybersec experts have long been making the point that we all need to be thoughtful about how much access we give to our data, whether it's a social media platform, market-research firm or Nigerian prince.

      Same applies here - sign up and enjoy the rewards if you like, but do it with a full appreciate of the risks and potential pitfalls if this company doesn't adhere to their T&Cs, or someone else uses their monitoring gear for nefarious purposes.

      The main thing is to put a value on your personal information/data and decide if it's a fair trade. They aren't paying you $30 because your info is worth less than that to them. By definition they are only making money if they get more than $30 value out of your info.

    • Cambridge Analytica anyone?

  • +3

    Set it up behind a VLAN with all other network traffic blocked and/or encrypted. Bam, free money and no privacy problems.

    • Surely your space, energy, time and money is worth more than that.

      • +2

        What space? The tiny box?

        What energy? The 5W/h a day their device consumes?

        What time? Setting up a new VLAN takes under a minute.

        What money? I'm making money from this.

  • +3

    Already running the ACCC whitebox, what's another one…

  • I'd love to get one just for sh*ts and giggles - run wireshark on it and feed it all kinds of spurious data.

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