Verizon Admits It’s Tracking Your Location and More for Better Ads and Market Reporting
- Posted on October 12, 2011 at 7:35pm by
Liz Klimas
- Print »
- Email »
A message from Verizon popped into my inbox today informing me of an update regarding my privacy. And if you use the national cell carrier, you might want to pay attention to what it said.
How nice, I thought at first, I‘m being told that I’m being tracked. Second thought: not again. It has become common place for what seems like almost every website and mobile device to start tracking its users in the name of — as Verizon says — “market reports” and “more relevant” mobile ads.
See, Verizon informed me that it will now start selling the data of the websites I visit, the apps and device features I use, my device location, demographic information gleaned from other companies, as well as the amount of time I use certain products.
The notice says, in red, that it will not share any information that identifies me personally. It even provides examples of how it will use my information to help make me comfortable with this tracking.
But as The Blaze covered earlier today, with all this information about you, even without explicitly stating who you are, a Stanford report says it’s really not that hard to get to the personal information.
A report might state that 10,000 mobile users visited a sports website in a month and 60% were men. Data may be combined with other wireless carriers to show how many mobile phone users are on a highway during rush hour. A restaurant may only want to advertise to people who are within 10 miles of their location.
Kevin Fogarty from IT World and I share many of the same sentiments:
“Verizon Wireless may also share location information with other companies in a way that does not personally identify you so that they can produce limited business and marketing reports.”
So they make the data itself available to anyone who wants it, even though it will have enough details about you that, if it became necessary, Verizon could use it as directions to do surgery on you remotely without bothering to turn on your webcam.
Nice. Especially at the bottom where it says “we will not sell your personal information to third parties,” even though the sentence about giving the data to other companies says pretty clearly that it will.
Neatly contradictory.
Earlier this week, Verizon released an announcement that makes it appear location tracking won’t be just for mobile devices, according to The Consumerist. Verizon states that it will share your geographic location, not your exact address, with advertisers who may be seeking to target their efforts.
Customers are given the option to opt out of any the “services” it is implementing.
You can read the full notice here.
Popular Stories
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 591 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 415 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 415 Comments
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 379 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 376 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 415 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 415 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 379 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 151 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know 100 Comments- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 303 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 415 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (52)
SkunkWorks
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 3:00amDon’t worry about the FEDS, worry about the companies that your do business with.
The FEDS are not spying on you but corporations full of every day normal working people are busy developing computer programs to track you.
I wonder how many of the people who work at Verizon support the Wall St protesters. I wonder how these people sleep at night knowing that they are total hypocrites.
Google , FaceBook, Apple etc.. all track you. How is that? How did this tracking happen. Did it happen by accident?
HELL NO IT WAS NO ACCIDENT!!!!
The program developers at these companies know damn well what they are doing. Programs can not just accidentally track you, a human has to purposely write the program and activate it.
Hopefully they can start tracking all the Wall st protesters and “give” that info to the proper authorities.
Report Post »Also why is it that only left wing anti gov groups are the ones to form groups like Anonymous.
We need some people to do the same against the left. A counter wiki leaks / Anonymous group is needed badly to hack their websites and expose these dirt bags.
JRook
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 10:07amWorry about Verfizon and the 20+ third tracking and profiling cookies that are loaded when you come to this site. So I guess the defense is, while we let them load the cookies when you come to this site, we can’t control what they do with the information. Oh but the fact we get paid by the companies for providing access to our users really isn’t important.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 11:57amNo need for “secret” group tracking….in fact these people wear what they are on their sleeve it’s just that they own the media and know that it will be spun in their favor if they had swastikas tattoed on their fore heads!!! Of course they can just say “Bish made me do it” and all the hmms and ahhs will blow it right under the carpert!!! Reporters ALL OVER are not impartial and I believe their handlers hire them for their personal views and encourage them to speak their minds……
Report Post »Marine 1
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:07amI have a close friend that has worked for Verizon for almost eight years and they are tracking customers big time. In fact, my friend is leaving Verizon for a myriad of reasons. The problem is that it’s not just Verizon — it’s all of them — Sprint — T-Mobile — you name it. Your cell phone or droid is nothing more than a tracking and listening device. When the stuff hits the fan you had better be throwing your device out the window and into the river otherwise Big Brother (or Big Sis) will have you. Just saying.
Report Post »tomloy
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 6:11amAmen! I don‘t have a cellphone and don’t intend to get one. Why make it easier for anyone to track you?
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 9:11amTake your battery out, to actually shut it off.
Report Post »If you have an iPhone, however, you CANNOT remove the battery! (No battery door)
Keep the phone for emergency or for calls at pre-arranged times like 9:10AM, 2:34PM, and 6:54PM.
eagle275
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 11:29pmthat‘s the frikkin’ truth!
Report Post »Latter-Day-Soldier
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 6:23amI’ll stick with he pre-paid phones, no contracts and I get what I want for calls and texts at a better price than with the big-time contract carriers.
Report Post »babylonvi
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:40amJust don’t get a smart phone, a plane phone is fine and you won;t be an ad magnet.
Report Post »N37BU6
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 8:43amToo bad the fed is mandating that they all be smart phones…
Report Post »onegodinkansas
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 9:48amI’m constantly talking about & to my ‘stupid phone’ when it drops calls & disconnects abruptly from bluetooth. I don’t want a smart phone.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 11:59pmHey everyone, cut and paste this to everyone in your address book and email it.. I did and so far most of them have called Verizon.. lets get it around the world.. we can in days if we all do it!
Report Post »Callmekozmo
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 11:43pmi hate cell phones, this is all i needed to do away with mine.
Report Post »teamarcheson
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 11:53pmJust BS
They are selling or forced to give this information to the Government. This information can be used to determine who is attending certain kinds of political meetings. You know what kind: TEA.
Report Post »garbagecanlogic
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 10:27pmI have three Verizon phones, as soon as the contract is over, I will seek service elsewhere.
The U.S. Out Of The U.N.
Report Post »The U.N. Out Of The U.S.
South Philly Boy
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 10:18pmJust opt-out
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 9:41pmNosey Fks.
Report Post »Variable
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 9:21pmI get a theblaze 404 error with the link in this:
Customers are given the option to opt out of any the “services” it is implementing.
Please fix. I will opt-out.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 9:15pmTurning in our two v phones tomorrow.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 9:14pmWHY can’t they track illegals in this country???
Report Post »pamela kay
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 10:24pmThey choose not to.
Report Post »ICEDRAGONNITE
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 11:48pmThey do. They just don’t want us to know.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 11:50pmLet’s issue them a phone as they cross the border!
Report Post »Del Scorcho
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 9:10pmLooks like I will continue to use Sprint for the foreseeable future.
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:37pmSo what!!?? The very nature of “Cellular” service is that your location is tracked. If you don’t want to be tracked, get rid of the service. I’m tired of hearing all this privacy crap. If you don’t like the service the service provides, get rid of the service. It’s their service, you agreed to pay for it. So shut up. If you want privacy, move firther into the mountains where the service doesn’t reach.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 9:22pmSheepdog is right! Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
Report Post »Libertybell2012
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:36pmThe only thing I have is dsl thru them..and they CAN track me because what they will find is MY LOVE FOR AMERICA!
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:20pmThis isn’t real big news. Everybody does it. Yahoo, Google, Internet Explorer, The Blaze advertisers and almost any other website you go to does it. What if I go to a crazy website just to get information and then I’m labeled a crazy because I was tracked there??
Who hasn’t seen their name appear in an online ad? Or the name of the town you live in? Especially the “dating” websites.
I’m constantly clearing cookies from my browser and laptop.
There is no such thing as “privacy” anymore…………………
Report Post »DianeCee
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:13pmI no longer use a cell phone. I simply refuse to accept spam in the form of US Postal office, cell phone companies, websites, etc. If I want read advertisements I can buy a local newspaper. I also find that I love the privacy of not being readily available to anyone. Life has gotten better.
Report Post »The10thAmendment
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:52pmThat’s actually the only remedy. There‘s really nothing illegal about what they’re doing. The Blaze logs keystrokes (how else do people think the password and basic information is remembered). Other than having to click delete those types of keyloggers are far less invasive than a mailman who refuses to close your mailbox.
I’m an individual, how much do you think JC Penny cares about what I do? None no doubt. They might track the frequency of my visits and maybe send out offers, but that’s about it.
Not long ago a major sports site was coming under attack from its members because of tracking cookies, but there was nothing illegal being done. When people click on accept for almost any site they are going to frequent, and they have 3rd party cookies active their habits are tracked. Hackers hack because they can, not that they care about anything on your system. It’s rare for trusted sites, like this one, to have any malicious script.
You can always create a network security where only you can access certain sites and they ONLY become active when you go there. Once logged out any tracking cookies go dormant anyway.
If you have any questions about how you can learn if you’ve been hit, go to Gibson Research Corp home site and let them run a test on your network/internet, ports, and IP address. They also have free tutorials to learn how best to protect your computer.
Report Post »Hobbs57
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 9:14pmNo kidding… I live a very simple, simple life, I don’t even drive ( Not by my choice) but found I enjoy life to a far greater degree than in the past. Sometimes I catch myself getting bothered by others who speak of all these costs they have related to lifestyle, that can‘t happen to me because I can’t drive. But I digress. I was have a hard time even taking a nap anymore because I think it is this phone thing. I think I woke up today a bunch of times unable to relax. I thought about it, wondering why it was that I even cared. So what if I am unable to be reached for a time. Come to think of it, there was a time where I didn’t have a cell phone and I loved it. I thought it was hilarious how many people called my house phone and left messages being angry with me for not returning their call because I was out of the house for the day. ” Curt, where you at Curt, why aren’t you returning my call ???” hahaha .. I would respond aloud, Ahhh , maybe I am not hear, maybe I am 20 miles away from this phone …lol ridiculous. I could certainly go with out the phone, but I Am afraid to many of the family and kids depend on being able to get ahold of me. I may have to reconsider this. I need the peace of mind. As soon as I get my driving “privileges” back in 2014, I plan on going to placed where the phone can’t be reached. I can’t wait. At the same time, I am not even sure I want to drive again.
Report Post »The10thAmendment
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 9:31pmHobbs57
You obviously have internet, just set up a 2 way for those you want contact with? You can even do it from your cell phone. In that way, those who care, and need to know can always have communication with you. My job sends me around the world and I have access (besides work obviously) to the 4 most important people in my life 24/7, even in blacked out area’s. I figure that if someone wants to talk to me bad enough, they probably have my address. COME AND VISIT!
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 9:40am“The Blaze logs keystrokes (how else do people think the password and basic information is remembered).”
Report Post »————————————————-
It’s called a cookie.
trolltrainer
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:13pmpffft, one of the benefits of early retirement, I leave my cell at home. :-)
Report Post »Nlitend1
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:02pmThey need to put regulations on these companies so that they are required to ask for clear permission to do this. Corporations hide little waivers in their ‘contracts’ and nobody knows what they are signing. They should respect their customers’ privacy rather than betraying them to earn a little more money…oh, wait, that was very very liberal of me. Let me correct this…
We already have too many regulation stifling business and capitalism depends on free markets and enforceable contracts to survive. If you don’t like it, break your 2 year contract, suffer the credit hit, and sign with a company that doesn’t want to make money. Verizon is doing what business does best, improving their product (innovating), and padding their bottom line. Stop crying about being tracked because it is better than the government expanding into the ‘tracking protection’ business.
How did I do?
Report Post »republitarian
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:50pmHey! Not bad. You’re making progress. Keep up the good work!
Report Post »The10thAmendment
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 9:02pmThey do have clear warnings, but generally people refuse to read all the provided information.
We don’t need more regulations, we need better informed people. READING is our friend!
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:01pm.
Report Post »We need more Naked comericals………….
ccbennett
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 7:59pmThis doesn’t really surprise me. I am sure they all do it in one form or another. AT&T’s been doing this for years now which was a CLEAR violation of their privacy statement but they did it anyway. A good app writer could make a lot of money creating an app to block this.
Report Post »ccbennett
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 7:58pmThis doesn’t really suprise me. I am sure they all do it in one form or another. AT&T’s been doing this for years now which was a CLEAR violation of their privacy statement but they did it anyway. A good app writer could make a lot of money creating an app to block this.
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 7:55pmAfter my youngest graduates High School I plan to go off the grid. Sad thing is…I don’t think I have that long.
Report Post »standwithIsraelstandwithGod
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 7:54pmTime to go back to landlines and phone cards. You gotta be a protector of your own privacy so the bullies who are trying to control you can shove it up their @$%!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Will M.
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 7:45pmTrust me…out of control…we’ve created our own demise!
Report Post »Lemon Party Patriot
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 7:41pmWho cares besides paranoid knee-jerk reactionists?
This is being done in the name of money so you better bet your sweet a55 that it will continue to be done more and more.
This is a capitalist economy and this information is of incredible value to businesses. Good luck staying off the grid. Money wins out.
Report Post »The10thAmendment
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 8:54pm@ Lemon Party Patriot
Posted on October 12, 2011 at 7:41pm
Who cares besides paranoid knee-jerk reactionists?
This is being done in the name of money so you better bet your sweet a55 that it will continue to be done more and more.
This is a capitalist economy and this information is of incredible value to businesses. Good luck staying off the grid. Money wins out.
Report Post »—————————————————————————————————–
QFT (quoted for truth)