Verizon gives in to pressure, will let users opt out of 'permacookie'

[Shawn Knight]

The discovery of Verizon’s “permacookies” caused an uproar among privacy advocates and average consumers alike that the company has simply been unable to ignore. As a result, Verizon will soon allow its customers to opt out of its controversial identifier-based tracking program according to a report from The New York Times.

The program, which uses a string of about 50 letter, numbers and characters called a Unique Identifier Header (UIDH), allows Verizon to track its customers’ web traffic in order to build a detailed profiles for targeted advertising purposes.

While customers have been free to opt out of the company’s Relevant Mobile Advertising program and thus, not receive targeted ads, there hasn’t been a way to disable the UIDH.

In a statement issued to the Times, Verizon spokesperson Debi Lewis said they listen to their customers and provide them the ability to opt out of their advertising programs. As such, they’ve started working on a way to opt out of the UIDH which will be available soon.

The move comes just one day after four members of the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation sent a letter to Verizon CEO Lowell C. McAdam that criticized the company’s data security and privacy practices. They also demanded an explanation of the UIDH program.

Whether the opt out feature is enough to keep advocates happy, however, seems unlikely. At the very least, it should be an opt in feature according to Electronic Frontier Foundation staff lawyer Nate Cardozo.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/59591-verizon-gives-pressure-users-opt-out-permacookie.html

 

[BlueDrake]

They know very well if this was an opt-in, people would likely be automatically clicking accept. Only on the general basis of making it go away, so they can continue and unknowingly be tracked by these cookies. It would post as little info as possible, just so people would be like "Sure, fine, do whatever" and go on their way.

Now that it's out in the public, and people actually know what it does of course they are upset. People are too oblivious regardless, to how much information is floating around about them. They give so much information away just from, the fact that it tracks your general location to begin with.

Then throw up information on Facebook like, what they had to eat with pictures and so on. Yet that's all fine and dandy, when someone can easily dig through that info about you. Throw the whole proper spin on things, and people are up in arms about their security and privacy. I'm not for any of this tracking at all and I'm not some nut either, this is just how people treat this "security" threat.

Unless there's some huge blow up on things, and it goes out globally about what it is then.. really who's going to rally the troops and knock down the walls? It's then all kept hush hush behind these walls, until suddenly there's a massive "leak" about these security / privacy / etc threats and there's "massive" outrage from people.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

You've gotta be careful of these shady shysters. I recently flashed my Samsung/Vodafone ROM to a stock Samsung ROM now there's no crapware, bloatware etc and the phones performance has really picked up. I don't know why I never did it a long time ago... Just chicken I guess.

 

[Rippleman]

Hate to break it you guys, but they still know who you call, when you call, what time you call, where you call from, where you care calling to, and where/where/who you surf on the net through 3g/4g/lte..... there is no way around it.

 

[Camikazi]

Hate to break it you guys, but they still know who you call, when you call, what time you call, where you call from, where you care calling to, and where/where/who you surf on the net through 3g/4g/lte..... there is no way around it.

Well yeah, it all goes through their servers so it would be hard for them not to know.