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Verizon Wants To Share Your Personal Information

Posted by timothy on from the on-display-right-there-in-the-locked-cabinet dept.

hyades1 writes "Gizmodo reports that Verizon is sending out notification letters infested with virtually-indecipherable legalese. In their sneaky, underhanded way, they're informing you that you have 45 days to opt out of their plan to share your personal data with 'affiliates, agents and parent companies.' That data can include, but isn't limited to, 'services purchased (including specific calls you make and receive), billing info, technical info and location info.' If you view your statement on-line, you won't even get the letter. You'll have to access your account and view your messages. However, Read Write Web says the link provided there, called the 'Customer Proprietary Network Information Notice,' was listed as 'not available.' No doubt Verizon would like to reassure you that everyone they're going to hand your personal data over to will have your best interests at heart."

27 of 236 comments (clear)

  1. boy am I glad by peragrin · · Score: 5, Funny

    that i have AT&T and they won't ever try to abuse me.

    Excuse me now I have to go reset my sarcasm meter. for some reason it gets pegged all the time now.

    --
    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    1. Re:boy am I glad by ScrewMaster · · Score: 4, Informative

      i have AT&T and they won't ever try to abuse me.

      Ha ... I have Sprint and was going to say the same thing.

      Bloodsuckers, all of them.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    2. Re:boy am I glad by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

      The summary is blatantly wrong.

      Verizon will NOT just hand over your information to other companies.

      I am 100% sure that Verizon will demand a bunch of money before these companies get to see any of your personal, private information. Once the companies have made the payment, then they can do whatever they want with your information. And if they make their regular monthly payments, they get access to updated information from Verizon.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    3. Re:boy am I glad by h4rm0ny · · Score: 5, Insightful


      Bullshit about obligations to shareholders. The shareholders invest their money of their own free will. If they think they've made a bad bargain then they shouldn't have invested or should sell their shares. And it stops there. If someone gives me £500, I'm not obliged to go out and kill their rich grandparent for them. Why not? Because it's against the law and they didn't give me the money on the expectation that I would go out and indulge in unethical behaviour on their part and if they did then more fool them.

      Companies don't exist as indivisible entities. Somewhere there are people saying "lets violate people's privacy" and they should be personally held accountable because they are personally responsible.

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    4. Re:boy am I glad by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Opting out was painless, just had to call a number and it was automated... *however* people should have to opt *IN* not opt out.

      But then they'd have to offer you something in return, to entice you to opt in. The underhanded way they're doing it, it costs them nothing. Most likely, their income from selling customer information won't be reduced unless quite a lot of subscribers opt out.

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    5. Re:boy am I glad by narcberry · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If congress didn't lock these companies in place with huge piles of money, we might have some entrepreneurs entering the space with words like, "customer", "service", and "helpful" in their dictionary.

      Anyhow, I hope this presents an opportunity to end my contract with Verizon, I missed the last one they never mailed me.

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      Modding me -1 troll doesn't make me wrong.
    6. Re:boy am I glad by Kozz · · Score: 5, Funny

      "We don't care. We're the phone company. We don't have to."

      http://snltranscripts.jt.org/76/76aphonecompany.phtml

      --
      I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
    7. Re:boy am I glad by narcberry · · Score: 5, Informative

      In the meantime, here's how to opt-out (taken from the mouth of FredicvsMaximvs from the article comments)

      - Sign in to the Verizon website.
      - On the red bar near the top, hover over "My Verizon." Click on "My Profile." (Don't go over to the sub-menu that pops up.)
      - In the second section down, under Phone Controls, there's a link to "View/Edit Privacy (CPNI) Settings." Click on that.
      - Voila! Click on the button that says "Don't share my CPNI." Remember to hit the save button before you leave.

      --
      Modding me -1 troll doesn't make me wrong.
    8. Re:boy am I glad by cbeaudry · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think the best option is to call them. Ask to speak to a supervisor.

      Tell them over the phone, you opt OUT and you want them to change any records necessary to make sure you are opted out.

      Ask them if they are NOT recording this they SHOULD be recording as you are recording it as well.

      Tell them if they do not opt you out immediately that you will sue them in court and it wont be pretty.

      Then... hope to god they make a mistake :)

      Im from Canada and Im usually not a litigious person. But these corporate bloodsucking companies need to get their ass handed to them.

  2. Hey Verizon :) by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm posting here that I'm going to eat all of your staff's pets.

    You 15 minutes to reply to this post, or you agree that Bruno the Poodle is my main course.

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  3. Frogs in boiling water by sentientbeing · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Look, I know the UK gets slammed regularly here on Slashdot for CCTV privacy issues and government spying, but at least we have a halfway decent Data Protection Act with teeth. A company pulling this kind of shit wouldnt get 2 steps in the UK. Doesnt the US have something similar to deter blatant abuses like this?

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    beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his mind he dreams himself your master
    1. Re:Frogs in boiling water by Ontheotherhand · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think the subtle irony of your post may be lost on the less British. my personal favourite is the local council that used anti terror legislation to spy on a family who were applying for a school place. Thank goodness commercial organisations cant protect us in this way - yet.

    2. Re:Frogs in boiling water by ScrewMaster · · Score: 5, Funny

      Look, I know the UK gets slammed regularly here on Slashdot for CCTV privacy issues and government spying, but at least we have a halfway decent Data Protection Act with teeth. A company pulling this kind of shit wouldnt get 2 steps in the UK. Doesnt the US have something similar to deter blatant abuses like this?

      Yes, indeed ... we have Congress ...

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    3. Re:Frogs in boiling water by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 4, Interesting

      We have contracts. I am a Verizon customer and I read this story and called up and now, I'm opted out (I offered to opt in for $5/month off my bill, about what I think that's worth, they declined). In the end-game, if VZ wouldn't agree to let me opt out, I'd consider other service providers, compare all my options, and pick the one I liked the most.

      For the masses that don't care to opt-out, they don't care! Giving out personal information is not an injury to people that don't care. I know it's impossible for /.ers to imagine that other people might have more a different set of priorities than they do, but it's a fact that different people care about different sets of things. Even people that care about the same set of things assign different weights and will come up with different tradeoffs. What's nice about a system of voluntary associations is that those sets of priorities can be efficiently mapped into different contract terms instead of everyone getting a one-sized-fits-all solution.

      I really cannot understand why some people believe that they have the right to dictate the terms under which someone sells them a service. If you went into the grocery store and saw a 6-pack of apples being sold for $1, would you demand (citing some clearly inalienable right) that they sell you a 5-pack of apples for $.80? If you don't want apples on the terms that the store is selling them, buy them from a different store. If no store has terms you approve of, then you have to admit the fact that no other human being will voluntarily give you his apples under those terms. Either change your terms, or start rationalizing to yourself your right to seize those apples from him involuntarily.

    4. Re:Frogs in boiling water by sentientbeing · · Score: 5, Funny

      Verizon: "But Mr Dent, the privacy opt-out contract has been available in the local telecom office for the last nine months."

      Dent: "Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them, had you? I mean, like actually telling anybody or anything."

      Verizon: "But the contract was on display ..."

      Dent: "On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."

      Verizon: "That's the display department."

      Dent: "With a flashlight."

      Verizon: "Ah, well the lights had probably gone."

      Dent: "So had the stairs."

      Verizon: "But look, you found the privacy notice didn't you?"

      Dent: "Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."

      --

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      beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his mind he dreams himself your master
    5. Re:Frogs in boiling water by AmigaMMC · · Score: 4, Insightful
      > Our government used to stop these things, but they got bought out by the corporations about 20 years ago.

      Let's call a duck a duck. It was thanks to Ronald Reagan, the greatest almighty president, that corporations got more and more power. For those who were too young to know, or forgot, banks also had a limit to how much interest they could charge on a credit card, but Reagan decided it wasn't fair and made them free to charge whatever they wanted. Good Morning 29% APR. Thanks George W. Reagan!

    6. Re:Frogs in boiling water by soren202 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Did you even read the summary of the article? Verizon will be selling things like billing info, technical info and location info, among other things.

      Name ONE person that enjoys junk mail and unsolicited phone calls during supper about getting your windshield repaired, or refinancing their credit card debt, or unneeded car insurance.

      Yours is an indefensible position. Nobody wants what Verizon is trying to do with their personal info, and every rational person knows that.

      Although it's true that we can't dictate the exact cost of a service, having personal information sold to other companies at no benefit to the consumer on an opt out basis is wrong, regardless of the context.

      If it's a way to have your bills reduced or if it's on an opt in rather than opt out basis, then maybe I'd be more sympathetic to your stance, but, as it stands, Verizon is selling private information to other companies with no benefit to the end consumer. There is no way, regardless of your convoluted view of the system, that such a situation could ever be considered fair or right.

    7. Re:Frogs in boiling water by cyn1c77 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      > Our government used to stop these things, but they got bought out by the corporations about 20 years ago.

      Let's call a duck a duck. It was thanks to Ronald Reagan, the greatest almighty president, that corporations got more and more power. For those who were too young to know, or forgot, banks also had a limit to how much interest they could charge on a credit card, but Reagan decided it wasn't fair and made them free to charge whatever they wanted. Good Morning 29% APR. Thanks George W. Reagan!

      I'm not going to disagree with you about who started chipping away at the public good in favor of corporate greed. Sadly though, I think that both major parties are guilty. Priority goes to getting yourself re-elected, which involves bringing the most pork into your district and making the corporate lobbyists happy so that they don't overthrow you on the next election.

      When advertising and lobbyists started having more effect on elections than the actual facts on the ground, the general public lost out.

      Now it's just like herding sheep.

    8. Re:Frogs in boiling water by rnelsonee · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, but name one person who enjoys paying more for services than their neighbor.

      Verizon will be selling personal information for *money*, and this influx of capital will mean that customers won't have to be 100% responsible for Verizon's monthly operating budget, upgrade projects, or anything else that the company spends money on.

      Every successful company (and let's face it, Verizon is one of them) spends its money wisely. It's not like the money Verizon is getting for this is going to the Buy-the-CEO-a-Mercedes fund -- it will go into the budget just as all the customer payments do.

      If Verizon doesn't sell your info (which most customers don't value much anyway), then either service will degrade, prices will go up, or Verizon will not be able to offer new products. You can't have your cake and eat it, too.

  4. Oligarchy Only Slightly Better Than Monopoly by dprovine · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While people will complain about this now, and talk about switching to Comcast or whoever, what will happen next is that Comcast &c. will do the same thing, and there'll be noplace left to switch to.

    Since it's unlikely there will ever be any sort of sufficient regulation of this behaviour by the government, the obvious solution is for everybody to use VOIP and run TOR. But that's unlikely too.

  5. It possibly suggests by mysidia · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That Verizon perhaps has already been doing this information sharing. They just want to stop getting penalized for various marketing activities they undertake.

    And court rulings that affirm the new regulations requiring opt-in consent.

    So the new regulations are finally making them take notice and be more forthcoming about when they share proprietary information??

    Verizon might be on the hot seat right now, but, I won't be surprised if notices like Verizon's or similar agreements start being seen from other carriers.

  6. Re:Which Verizon? by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 5, Informative

    Replying to myself. Looks like it is Verizon Wireless. But it also looks like it's fairly easy to opt out of. You can either do it through your settings on the Verizon Wireless website, or via phone at 1-800-333-9956.

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    This guy's the limit!
  7. its not 'share' its SELL by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    dammit.

    file 'sharing' is wrong. or so we're told.

    but DATA sharing, if done by multi million corps - that's ok. yeah....

    its not sharing, its SELLING.

    orwell was right - you can control thoughts via language. give words an incorrect meaning or redefine them and you're halfway there.

    similarly, copying bits is not THEFT but copyright violation. again, manipulating our words to make things not quite what they really are.

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  8. Direct link to opt out by fructose · · Score: 4, Informative

    I had to go through 3 websites/blogs before I got the direct link. So if you have Verizon and want to opt out directly, here you go.

    https://ebillpay.verizonwireless.com/vzw/accountholder/profile/CPNISettings.action

  9. This isn't new by Mugsy69 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The court case resulting from the 2007 FCC regs requiring consumers to be able to opt to not have their information shared was finally decided on 2/19. That's what caused this notice to be sent. For more information check out this link to the EPIC website: http://epic.org/privacy/cpni/. It includes links to opt out for both Verizon and SBC.

  10. But they told Congress... by icebike · · Score: 4, Informative

    So they apparently lied to congress:
    http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ISPs-Try-To-Prevent-New-Opt-In-Only-Privacy-Law-97991

    Verizon statement before Congress:

    Verizon believes that before a company captures certain Internet-usage data for targeted or customized advertising purposes, it should obtain meaningful, affirmative consent from consumers." To get that meaningful consent, Tauke said, requires a) explaining to consumers exactly what kind of data are being collected and for what; b) treating a failure to consent as meaning no collection of data for "online behavioral marketing"; and c) consumers' ability to easily opt out if they initially agree but change their minds.

    I shocked. Shocked! I tell you...

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    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  11. Make it cost Verizon to do this... by m6ack · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Follow these instructions:

    1) Call Verizon.
    2) Have the representative explain "CPNI."
    3) Ask a couple of questions.
    4) Ask the representative to OPT-OUT of all your phones.

    You have just cost Verizon Wireless about $20.00 for that call.