Comcast Wi-Fi serving self-promotional ads via JavaScript injection

Comcast has begun serving Comcast ads to devices connected to one of its 3.5 million publicly accessible Wi-Fi hotspots across the US.

Comcast's decision to inject data into websites raises security concerns and arguably cuts to the core of the ongoing network neutrality debate. The program began months ago. One facet of it is designed to alert consumers that they are connected to Comcast's Xfinity service. Other ads remind Web surfers to download Xfinity apps. The advertisements may appear about every seven minutes or so and they last for just seconds before trailing away. The advertising campaign only applies to Xfinity's publicly available Wi-Fi hot spots that dot the landscape. Comcast customers connected to their own Xfinity Wi-Fi routers when they're at home are not affected.