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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday October 18 2017, @01:22AM   Printer-friendly
from the can-you-find-me-now? dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

Last year, you might remember that Verizon was in the news for reaching an agreement with the FCC. The issue centered around the tracking of its customers without consent. In reality, carriers have been doing this for years, but privacy advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation asked Verizon and the FCC to put a stop to it. In the end, Verizon agreed to stop tracking customers unless they expressly agreed to opt-in to the program. The agreement between Verizon and the FCC was roundly seen as a win by privacy advocates and consumer rights groups.

Unfortunately, it looks like the practice is still in effect. Philip Neustrom, the co-founder of Shotwell Labs, recently found two demo websites that would return account details if visited from a mobile connection. By simply entering a zip code and clicking a button, the site would spit out the full name, current location, and more information.

It would appear that these sites are grabbing the information from the same process that Verizon got busted for. That program, the Unique Identifier Header, added information to HTTP requests from Verizon customers and then, for a fee, would let websites see the info. AT&T has a similar plan called the "Mobile Identity API".

You know what would fix this? A few more mergers.

Source: https://www.androidauthority.com/verizon-att-selling-information-807684/


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday October 18 2017, @02:37AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 18 2017, @02:37AM (#583774) Journal

    Makes an interesting reading [telstra.com.au].
    Some excerpts:

    To whom it may concern, I threatened legal action with the following email and received (pending) a refund via mobile phone provider. I would also encourage you to make a complaint through ACCC or the telecommunications ombudsman.

    "Regarding invoice for $39.96 through Telstra will not be paid because it was unauthorized. Notice of Refund is required within 24hours. Non response will result in civil legal action taken for unauthorized exorbitant and illegal charges not reflecting services provided or sought or applied. Proof of application for services required. Four application approvals allegedly requested. Legal class action will also be sought and pending through my lawyers Mills Oakley on behalf of other aggreived individuals. Additional legal damages will also be sought and legal fees as deemed appropriate.
    Your sincerely"

    investigations by The West Australian found Telstra was the only telco that still operated what is known as a "one click opt-in" method of acceptance for the subscriptions, where a customer can subscribe to a service simply by accidentally clicking on a website or advertising banner.

    Optus and Vodafone have a “double click opt-in” method, which is considered to offer more protection for customers because it asks them twice if they want to subscribe.

    One telco insider said the one-click process had netted Telstra multimillion-dollar windfalls, with the telco getting about 30 per cent of revenues from each subscription. Telstra declined to comment on specific revenue numbers

    .

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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
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