- Nov 5, 2011
- 5,855
Verizon Wireless sells out customers with creepy new tactic : http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20140425,0,2539606.column
The carrier will monitor not just your wireless activities but also what you do on your wired or Wi-Fi-connected computers, then share that data with marketers.
As far as corporate notices go, they don't get much creepier than this recent alert from Verizon Wireless.
The company says it's "enhancing" its Relevant Mobile Advertising program, which it uses to collect data on customers' online habits so that marketers can pitch stuff at them with greater precision.
"In addition to the customer information that's currently part of the program, we will soon use an anonymous, unique identifier we create when you register on our websites," Verizon Wireless is telling customers.
"This identifier may allow an advertiser to use information they have about your visits to websites from your desktop computer to deliver marketing messages to mobile devices on our network," it says.
That means exactly what it looks like: Verizon will monitor not just your wireless activities but also what you do on your wired or Wi-Fi-connected laptop or desktop computer — even if your computer doesn't have a Verizon connection.
The company will then share that additional data with marketers.
Joanne Schwartz, 65, of Tustin received the Verizon Wireless notice last week.
"Verizon makes it seem like they are doing us a great favor," she told me. But what the company is really doing, she said, is collecting data on her whole family's computer usage and sharing it with its business partners.
Schwartz's verdict: "Horrible."
Even worse, Verizon is enrolling customers in the "enhanced" program by automatically downloading software into their computers, which customers may not even know is happening.
If Verizon Wireless customers want to keep their computers off-limits to the company's marketing affiliates, they'd have to go to the trouble of opting out.
This is one of the more outrageous examples of how businesses loudly proclaim their commitment to safeguarding consumers' privacy while quietly selling us out to the highest bidder.
Read more on :
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20140425,0,2539606.column
The carrier will monitor not just your wireless activities but also what you do on your wired or Wi-Fi-connected computers, then share that data with marketers.
As far as corporate notices go, they don't get much creepier than this recent alert from Verizon Wireless.
The company says it's "enhancing" its Relevant Mobile Advertising program, which it uses to collect data on customers' online habits so that marketers can pitch stuff at them with greater precision.
"In addition to the customer information that's currently part of the program, we will soon use an anonymous, unique identifier we create when you register on our websites," Verizon Wireless is telling customers.
"This identifier may allow an advertiser to use information they have about your visits to websites from your desktop computer to deliver marketing messages to mobile devices on our network," it says.
That means exactly what it looks like: Verizon will monitor not just your wireless activities but also what you do on your wired or Wi-Fi-connected laptop or desktop computer — even if your computer doesn't have a Verizon connection.
The company will then share that additional data with marketers.
Joanne Schwartz, 65, of Tustin received the Verizon Wireless notice last week.
"Verizon makes it seem like they are doing us a great favor," she told me. But what the company is really doing, she said, is collecting data on her whole family's computer usage and sharing it with its business partners.
Schwartz's verdict: "Horrible."
Even worse, Verizon is enrolling customers in the "enhanced" program by automatically downloading software into their computers, which customers may not even know is happening.
If Verizon Wireless customers want to keep their computers off-limits to the company's marketing affiliates, they'd have to go to the trouble of opting out.
This is one of the more outrageous examples of how businesses loudly proclaim their commitment to safeguarding consumers' privacy while quietly selling us out to the highest bidder.
Read more on :
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20140425,0,2539606.column
