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edinlinux [soylentnews.org] writes:

This below came from Cricket to my cellphone today.. (trimmed down, comments and bolding by me)

How is this even legal? Which congresscritter do I need to donate money to to stop shenanagins like this? (I see it is 'opt out' (for a limited time I guess?), but why should I have to?).

Changes to Cricket Wireless' (non) Privacy Policy

The full policy here:
www.cricketwireless.com/june

Here's some of the information we collect:

        Account Information includes your name, address, telephone number, email address, service related details such as payment data, security codes, service history, and other information like that;
        Web Browsing & Wireless Application Information tells us about the websites you visit and the mobile applications you use on our network;
        Location Information tells us where your wireless device is located.

Here are the three basic ways we collect it:

        We get information from you when you do things like make a purchase from us;
        We collect it from how you use our products and services;
        Other sources, like credit agencies, marketing companies, and other service providers provide it to us.

Here are just some of the ways we use it. To:
...
        Let you know about service updates, offers, and promotions;
        Improve entertainment options;
        Deliver Relevant Advertising;
        Create External Marketing & Analytics Reports
        Assist in the prevention and investigation of illegal activities and violations of our Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Policies.

Our commitment to protecting your data

        We don't sell your Personal Information to anyone for any purpose. Period. [ed: just we give it away to our 'affiliates' (which is anyone who gives us money) instead!]

....
        Web Browsing & Mobile Application Information such as IP addresses, URLs, data transmission rates and delays. We also learn about the pages you visit, the links or advertisements you see and follow, the search terms you enter, how often you open an application, how long you spend using the app, and other similar information.

QUESTIONS ABOUT MY INFORMATION & ADVERTISING
1. Do you use my information to send me advertising?

Yes. We may use information like the preferences you have expressed and interests you have demonstrated on our websites, in our stores, and through use of our products and services, to provide you with marketing information and advertisements for Cricket products and services. Those ads may be delivered on our websites and mobile applications. This is called "first party" advertising. It is part of our service relationship and you are not able to opt-out from this type of advertising.
....

4. Do you use the location of my device for advertising purposes?

Yes. Cricket uses information about the locations you visit in order to create combined wireless location interest characteristics that can be used to provide Relevant Advertising to you and others like you.
...

QUESTIONS ABOUT LOCATION INFORMATION
1. What is location information?

Exactly what it sounds like! It includes your ZIP-code and street address, as well as the whereabouts of your wireless device.
2. How is it used?

We use it in all kinds of ways, here are some examples:
...
We use it for Advertising.

3. How accurate is wireless location information?

It depends on the technology we're using. For example, we can locate your device based on the cell tower that's serving you. The range could be up to 1,000 meters in any direction from the tower in urban areas, and up to 10,000 meters in rural areas. Wi-Fi networks provide more accurate location information, associating you with the place where the network is located like a coffee shop or to an area within or around that place.

Some services require more precise information. So for those we develop a more precise estimate of location by associating the serving cell tower ID with other information, like the latitude and longitude of the tower, radio frequency parameters, GPS information and timing differences in radio signals. Depending on a variety of factors, those methods may estimate the location of your device to within 30 to 1000 meters.

  ...

QUESTIONS ABOUT EXTERNAL MARKETING AND ANALYTICS REPORTS
1. Tell me more about the External Marketing & Analytics Program.

        We use aggregate information to create External Marketing & Analytics Reports that we may sell to other companies for their own marketing, advertising or other similar uses.
        These reports may be a combination of information from wireless and Wi-Fi locations, website browsing and mobile application usage and other information we have about you and other customers. You have a choice about whether your anonymous information is included in these reports.

Some examples of External Marketing & Analytics Reports include:

        Reports for retail businesses that show the number of wireless devices in or near their store locations by time of day and day of the week, together with demographic characteristics of the users (such as age and gender) in those groups; and
        Reports for device manufacturers that combine information such as device type, make and model with demographic and regional location information to reflect the popularity of particular device types with various customer segments.

2. Do you provide companies with individual anonymous data as part of your External Marketing & Analytics Program?

Yes. When we provide individual anonymous information to businesses, we require that they only use it to provide aggregate reports, and for no other purpose. We also require businesses to agree they will not attempt to identify any person using this information, and that they will handle it in a secure manner, consistent with this Policy.

The full policy here:
www.cricketwireless.com/june

...and of course every phone company does this, so you cannot just "vote with your wallet and change providers.."

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Original Submission