For various reasons, I do NOT have landline or cell service from Verizon. I only have FIOR internet and FIOS TV.
I recently learned about a change in Verizon's privacy policy that concerns me a lot.
"[Verizon] The telecom giant recently updated its privacy policy, allowing the company to share more data with advertisers, and several customers have equated the change with spying.
Verizon will know what websites you visit and how frequently you visit them as well as the location of your phone. The company said that its new monitoring practices will allow it to provide customers with more relevant ads.
“A local restaurant may want to advertise only to people who live within 10 miles, and we might help deliver that ad on a website without sharing information that identifies you personally.”
Getting customers connected with local businesses sounds like a good idea, but several people are concerned about Verizon’s spying practices. According to iDigital Times, the tracking function is enabled by default on Verizon phones.
If you don’t want to let Verizon use your data for marketing purposes, you can log into your account and go to Verizon’s privacy center. On that page, you should find a button that allows you to opt out of the program.
Verizon said in a press release that its new spying practices will allow it to give businesses a detailed look at their customers. For example, Verizon will be able to determine the users demographic (age, gender, race), their interests (pet owner, tennis player), and their most frequent locations (which could help companies determine billboard placements).
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/368043/verizon-to-start-spying-on-customers-to-improve-ad-selection/#lyVi8l...
Well, I tried to use the link in this article to opt out of this but, of course, the site wants a cell phone number.
IF I HAD ANY ALTERNATIVE TO VERIZON, I WOULD NOT HAVE THEIR "SERVICE."
I hope someone from Verizon is monitoring this forum and contacts me directly. I won't hold my breath; I've experienced their "customer service" in the past.
Keep in mind this is for Verizon Wireless, not Verizon Landline services. This has nothing to do with FiOS even though VZW is almost halfway owned by Verizon Communications, the other half being Vodaphone UK. The key thing that focuses on is Mobile Targeted Advertising, which isn't out of the norm when you consider the massive iAds network Apple runs themselves that you absolutely cannot opt out of. You can shut off location features but those ads still track you.
As far as advertising goes on the Wireline networks? Plenty of ad networks out there (like Google's and Microsoft's) that supply the same sort of privacy policy. Granted, I have every ad server on a blacklist so the ads never load. If for whatever reason Verizon decides to start doing DPI and use data to track my usage for revenue increases? Well, I'll just start producing garbage to mess up the usefulness of the data.
also you can opt out of any of those things by going to www.verizon.com/privacy
Yepper...
What is quoted is related to Verizon wireless and that URL to Opt-Out is
http://www.verizonwireless.com/myprivacy
Of course a US Postal letter in the form of a formal "Op-Out and Privacy Notification" that specifically state boundaries, which includes barring Internet activity tracking, would be the best action.
As others mentioned, these forums are dedicated to Residential products and services offered by Verizon.
For help on Verizon Wireless issues, please post your topic on the Verizon Wireless community. 🙂
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
