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Verizon Up Offers Rewards in Exchange For Customers' Personal Information (wsj.com)

Posted by msmash on from the no-shame dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: A new Verizon rewards program, Verizon Up, provides credits that wireless subscribers can use for concert tickets, movie premieres and phone upgrades. But it comes with a catch: Customers must give the carrier access to their web-browsing history, app usage and location data, which Verizon says it uses to personalize the rewards and deliver targeted advertising as its customers browse the web. The trade-off is part of Verizon's effort to build a digital advertising business to compete with web giants Facebook and Google, which often already possess much of the same customer information. Even though Congress earlier this year dismantled tough privacy regulations on telecommunications providers, Verizon still wants customers to opt-in to its most comprehensive advertising program, called Verizon Selects. Data collected under the program is shared with Oath, the digital-media unit Verizon created when it bought AOL and Yahoo. Since access to data from customers could make it easier to tailor ads to their liking, Verizon hopes the information will help it gain advertising revenue to offset sluggish growth in its cellular business.See a current list of Verizon plans here.

27 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. They have had something like this for a while by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

    The name was different but they had something like this for a while... the advert talked up the points being able to pay for new phones and so on but the terms were the same as the creepy ones above. They can probably already do all sorts of squicky things with your phone data legally, giving them further permissions seemed unwise.

    1. Re:They have had something like this for a while by Penguinisto · · Score: 2

      ...and yet the odds of kids (under 25) allowing them to do jut that? Almost perfect. After all, what use do they have for privacy?

      Hate to say it, but Verizon's already done the math (no joke intended), and they see it as potentially profitable, IMHO precisely because of this.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    2. Re: They have had something like this for a while by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Fuck you Verizon!

      You'll *never* get anything from me!!!

      Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone.

  2. Where is the problem? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    They can have full access to the VM I create for them for all I care.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Where is the problem? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      You have a VM on your phone?

    2. Re:Where is the problem? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Apparently it becomes more and more a necessity.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Where is the problem? by GNious · · Score: 1

      Could install some kind of Java based VM, perhaps Android compatible ...

      http://www.myriadgroup.com/en/...

  3. Umm... is that the same article from a month ago? by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just with more information and not paywalled?

    I mean this one.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. Just Say No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    To Verizon and AT&T. They're Ma Bell reincarnate, without any of the good parts.

    I'd rather have a cell phone with worse reception than give money to those monopolists.

    1. Re:Just Say No! by pauljlucas · · Score: 1
      Ma Bell, pre-divestiture, despite being a monopoly, was in the business of providing the best land-line service in the world -- and they did. They also invented heavily into fundamental research (Bell Labs) not connected to how much money they could make from it. In return for this arrangement, despite being granted patents, they never enforced their exclusive rights on them effectively giving away their discoveries and inventions to humanity.

      Did they stifle competition? Absolutely. But there was a silver lining that was lost post-divestiture.

      --
      If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
  5. opt-in is the right approach. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Verizon still wants customers to opt-in to its most comprehensive advertising program

    Credit where it's due: they at least made this opt-in instead of opt-out. That's the way this should be handled, and it's also the way Google, Facebook, Instagram, and others should be doing, rather than blanket mass surveillance.

    Now, people who sign up for this are foolish. But that's a separate topic.

  6. Opt-in is acceptable for this by sinij · · Score: 2

    While this program is a horrible violation of privacy, as long as the entire program is opt-in it is acceptable.

    1. Re:Opt-in is acceptable for this by sinij · · Score: 1

      It is still exhibitionism if you expose yourself to willing observers. It follows that this is still a violation of privacy even if you give permission.

    2. Re:Opt-in is acceptable for this by dark.nebulae · · Score: 1

      Opt-in is only for the "benefits". Trust me, they are still collecting and selling all of the other stuff w/ the regulation dismantlement by congress regardless of what they are telling us.

    3. Re:Opt-in is acceptable for this by swb · · Score: 1

      The problem is that it will be opt-in initially, and the people who take advantage of it will be the ones Verizon least wants to spy on -- cheapskates and naive young people.

      They don't really care about this data, what they want is the data of the people who won't opt in. Once they get enough clueless/careless people to opt in, they start making it a coercive opt-in -- you pay more not to opt-in. Then they take away the ability to opt-in at all.

    4. Re:Opt-in is acceptable for this by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      This part of the program is opt-in, but there are still plenty of things you need to opt-out of, I know this first hand.

      --
      Cheap storage VM.
  7. Re:Umm... is that the same article from a month ag by Tx · · Score: 2

    It'd just be slow news if it was only originally on Ars, but it was posted right here on slashdot too. Same story from a month ago.

    --
    Oh no... it's the future.
  8. Don't look under that rock by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 1

    Because Rule 34.

  9. Re:Ask arseholetechnica this, lol... apk by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Dude, take your pills. And I mean the ones the doc gave you, not the ones you get from the guy on the street corner.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  10. Re:Change your fake name to this ars shill... apk by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    I really wish I knew what pooped into your cereals this morning, but ... whatever, go ahead.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  11. Re:Stupid. by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    You attitude is that they haven't done this already.

    They have.

    The article just says that they added a pseudo opt-in for appearances.

    I have Verizon and they have offered an extra 1GB if I would opt in. That was last year.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  12. Re:as implies immediacy by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    Try this on yourself as a proof of concept.

    We won't be able to tell you how it turns out and stuff.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  13. Re:Umm... is that the same article from a month ag by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 1

    The editors are getting more and more sloppy in here... I miss the good old days...

  14. We'll trade you these strings of beads.. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    ..for ownership of the island of Manhattan.

    Also: Does anyone actually believe that they don't collect all that information anyway? They just want people to make it easier for them to do so. At least, until things get so bad that they force people to be monitored like this is China.

  15. Make a VM that fakes it all by trawg · · Score: 1

    It'd be a fun project to build a Linux VM that allows you to trivially spoof a bunch of random data to get access to this programme. And distribute it. I think amping up the noise against these things while trying to take advantage of the benefits is probably more effective than flat out boycotting.

  16. In Soviet Russia ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... network searches you!

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  17. What's old is new... (PowerAgent) by jtara · · Score: 1

    http://archive.fortune.com/mag...

    I was technical lead for the client-side of this.

    Best moments: "the cone of silence" ritual, and being deposed by David Boies.