A couple of years ago, Verizon caught a lot of heat for a very sneaky practice: the company was inserting a unique, permanent piece of code into all the web traffic on your phone, without user consent, so that a third party could track your every digital move for advertising purposes. After a public outcry, Verizon finally stopped, and settled with the FTC… but that third-party remained a loose thread in the story. Until now. [More]
supercookies
Verizon, FCC Settle “Supercookie” Investigation With $1.35M Fine And Opt-Out Ability
By 3.7.16
In 2014 and 2015, Verizon caught a lot of attention for doing a couple of very sneaky things. One, they were inserting a little piece of code into all the web traffic on your phone to track your every digital move for advertising purposes. And two, they weren’t letting you opt-out of the tracking, even if you opted out of the ads. [More]
Coming Soon To An AOL Ad Network Near You: All That Data Verizon Collects On Mobile Users
By 10.7.15
When Verizon first announced its plans to acquire AOL back in May, jokes abounded. The name “AOL” still conjures the sound of modems screeching and a friendly digital voice announcing haltingly, “You’ve got mail!” It does not, on the other hand, immediately inspire one to think of a $4 billion media and data empire. But the latter is exactly what it is — and in conjunction with Verizon’s more pernicious tools, it may be about to get a whole lot bigger. [More]
FCC Looking Into Verizon “Supercookies” That Track Wireless Users’ Behavior
By 4.10.15
For years, the Internet behavior of all Verizon Wireless smartphone customers was being tracked by “supercookies” on their devices that they could not opt out of. After the tracking became public knowledge, the company recently gave its customers a way to shake off the invasive snooping, but that isn’t stopping the FCC from looking into whether the program violated federal guidelines. [More]
Verizon Wireless Will Finally Allow Users To Opt Out Of Being Tracked By “Supercookies”
By 1.30.15
Verizon has been watching you. If you use their mobile service, Verizon has been tracking your every move on the internet for the better part of the last two years, with no way for you to opt out. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good: the company is finally letting consumers turn off the trackers. [More]
