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Verizon's Offer: Let Us Track You, Get Free Stuff

Posted by samzenpus on from the do-your-worst dept.

mpicpp points out a new program from Verizon that is perfect if you don't mind being tracked. Are you comfortable having your location and Web browsing tracked for marketing purposes? If so, Verizon's got a deal for you. The wireless giant announced a new program this week called 'Smart Rewards' that offers customers credit card-style perks like discounts for shopping, travel and dining. You accrue points through the program by doing things like signing onto the Verizon website, paying your bill online and participating in the company's trade-in program. Verizon emphasizes that the data it collects is anonymized before it's shared with third parties. The program is novel in that offers Verizon users some compensation for the collection of their data, which has become big business for telecom and tech companies. Some privacy advocates have pushed data-collecting companies to reward customers for their personal information in the interest of transparency.

3 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. So It's Come to This by rmdingler · · Score: 5, Funny

    It sounds like the Google business plan being explained to me like I was five-years-old.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

    1. Re:So It's Come to This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Except it isn't Google's business plan. Google sells advertising targeting to ad companies. Verizon is selling your data to data mining companies. Google would never sell your data because it's their core business to be the keepers of that data so they can sell targeted ads. Not that Google is altruistic, just that they are themselves the data miners so they are not going to share.

      Google offers free services to compensate. Services people tend to find pretty valuable such as Android, Gmail and Search.

      Verizon is going to offer "discounts for shopping, travel and dining" read: coupons (ie more advertising).
      Verizon is going to "anonymize" your data and sell it to anyone and everyone willing to pay.

      I see the exchange of value in one business plan, and not the other.

  2. Let me get this straight... by newcastlejon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They're offering me discounts on stuff I probably don't need if I make it easier for people to try and sell me shit I don't want?
    Anonymised? Pull the other one.

    --
    If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.