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Verizon and AT&T Accused of Selling Your Location to Almost Anyone

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

MrPlow writes:

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/

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Wednesday October 18 2017, @02:59AM (3 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 18 2017, @02:59AM (#583781) Journal

    You sure you don't want to just stick all the execs in a car crusher and merge them that way?

    I tried that, the budget for second hand cars went overboard quite quickly: the damn'd species keep spawning new execs faster than cockroaches.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:33AM (2 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:33AM (#583883) Homepage Journal

    Ahhh, I see your problem. You're putting cars in too. There's no need for that. Just make up the necessary volume with board members and upper management.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:59AM (1 child)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:59AM (#583888) Journal

      Just make up the necessary volume with board members and upper management.

      Ughh... exposing the unprotected car crusher to slimy creatures... you really pay no consideration to a honest piece of equipment.
      Remember: with a great power (like the one of the car crusher) comes a great responsibility (like taking care of your source of power)

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

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @05:29AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @05:29AM (#585120)

        resomation [soylentnews.org]