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story category Verizon Hit By Internet Privacy Freak Out
Occasionally, somebody reads the fine print and gets terrified...
(old news - 06:34PM Monday Mar 09 2009)
tags: legal · fcc · business · privacy · Verizon Wireless Broadband
Tipped by ReaperOS2 See Profile
Over the weekend, complaints emerged and bubbled over that Verizon Wireless had cooked up a new pile of fine print regarding their use of customer information, and was sending out letters to customers telling them they had 45-days to "opt out" of having this information shared with "affiliates, agents and parent companies." The discussion began when author and consumer advocate David Weinberger blogged about the memo he received with his latest bill, and highlighted that the opt-out process is a lot harder than it should be:
To opt out you can call 1-800-333-9956. Or you can follow the instructions in the mailing to go to verizonwireless.com and log into My Verizon where you will find no mention, no button, no link and no help. Ah, but you forgot to check your Messages. There you will indeed find a link to CPNI. The link is marked 'Not available.' Dead end. You could then call Verizon’s excellent telephone support. (Nope, I’m not being sarcastic.) They won’t be able to find the opt out button either. But during the 8 minutes the rep puts you on hold, you’ll be amused to hear one of their continuous bits of self-promotion tell you that Verizon never shares your personal information.
For its part, Verizon posted something to their own blog insisting that nothing in the policy has changed, and they tell GigaOM that the information is only shared within Verizon and Vodafone (though what Vodafone does with it isn't clear). Of course, the question continues to be whether consumers should have to opt-out at all, something that's going to get a lot more discussion given the FCC's plan to focus heavily on privacy issues. Sensing the regulatory hammer, Verizon has been arguing that public shame will keep them honest, so regulation isn't necessary.

Related:
  1. Thursday Morning Links
  2. Thursday Evening Links
  3. Friday Evening Links
  4. Monday Evening Links
  5. Wednesday Evening Links
  6. Friday Evening Links
  7. FCC Fines 600 Carriers For Privacy Issues
  8. Wednesday Evening Links
Forums » Verizon Hit By Internet Privacy Freak Out
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Its a Secret
Whatever
Premium
join:2008-02-23
U B Funny

LMAO!

"Public shame will keep them honest"?

That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while. Since when do these companies get ruled by shame? They're shameless!
--
"In the future, that which is not mandatory will be illegal"

Arctic nut

join:2006-11-26
Thief River Falls, MN

Re: LMAO!

Privacy no longer exists if it stands in the way of the almighty dollar.

maartena
Stacked.
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
·RoadRunner Cable

Re: LMAO!

said by Arctic nut See Profile :

Privacy no longer exists
Actually, only those who have NO internet connection and NO cell phone.... can still have some privacy these days. No one will be able to find anything on my grandma.

Rogue Wolf
Ate The Last Of The Pumpkin Pie

join:2003-08-12
Troy, NY
·RoadRunner Cable

Seriously. Didn't Verizon promise Pennsylvania a statewide fiber network a decade or so ago in exchange for preferential treatment regarding regulations... and then subsequently stiff the state once it got what it wanted?

People feel shame. Corporations feel nothing.
--
Attention. Attention, please. We have the funk. I repeat, we are in full possession of the funk.

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast


1 edit

Re: LMAO!

said by Rogue Wolf See Profile :

Seriously. Didn't Verizon promise Pennsylvania a statewide fiber network a decade or so ago in exchange for preferential treatment regarding regulations... and then subsequently stiff the state once it got what it wanted?

People feel shame. Corporations feel nothing.
Yes! They did!
Here we are years down the road and much of PA is still sitting on their thumbs.
No one wants to remember the shady side of VZ.
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera
RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Wasn't "public shame" supposed to keep banks and the stock market honest, too?
patcat88

join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

Re: LMAO!

said by RadioDoc See Profile :

Wasn't "public shame" supposed to keep banks and the stock market honest, too?
Well WaMu had a run.
bus7821

join:2003-08-07
San Pedro, CA

said by RadioDoc See Profile :

Wasn't "public shame" supposed to keep banks and the stock market honest, too?
In the case of the banks, good business practices would have have been sufficient, but the higher ups got caught up in the speculative bubble and started gambling with the money they were responsible for. When you ignore or misuse your own risk calculations, you are caught in a gambling fever that overrides lesser emotions, like shame.

Its a Secret
Whatever
Premium
join:2008-02-23
U B Funny

Re: LMAO!

It's only shameful if you get caught.
lordofwhee

join:2007-10-21
Everett, WA

Re: LMAO!

Where have YOU been the past six months?

h7

@charter.com

said by Its a Secret See Profile :

"Public shame will keep them honest"?

That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while. Since when do these companies get ruled by shame? They're shameless!
Heh, right about that. Serious I think that public shame is the one thing that keeps them going, what gets their nuts off, but most definitely never did nor ever does indeed keep them honest. :P

h#7

grouchy9993

@igt.com

Wild guess, the law says an opt out mechanism must be provided. But it doesn't specify that it has to work.

The bit about only sharing the information with business partners is a riot. Them selling your information constitutes a business relationship.

gdogg

join:2006-02-06
39123
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico


1 edit

Messed

Um, am I the only one thinking an OPT-Out system should be criminal, if they do it, the company must leave the usa forever, deported back to mexico

Seriously, OPT-IN , in big fat letters, that even a 100th generation inbred can understand should be the only way my information can be sold.
rnikischer

join:2002-12-28
Ottawa, IL
·magicjack.com
·Vonage

My Verizon Customers Can Opt Out Online - I Just Did

Log in to your My Verizon Account, click the My Profile Tab, then scroll down under the "Phone Controls" Section - you will see a sentence with a hyperlink that says: "Your privacy is important to us. You have ability to change your privacy(CPNI) Settings. What's This?
View/Edit Privacy(CPNI) Settings" Click this link and it will take you to the Customer Proprietary Network Information Settings Page. Your phone number(s) will be listed with a radio button next to each that indicates NO to sharing your CPNI or OK to sharing it. Make your choice and click the Submit button.

No doubt that this takes several steps and they didn't make it easy to find but it beats having the hassle of calling and getting jerked around.

Hope this helps everyone out.

Ralph
kkkk40us

join:2001-09-20
Astoria, NY

Re: My Verizon Customers Can Opt Out Online - I Just Did

dont see this phone controls section where is it?
rnikischer

join:2002-12-28
Ottawa, IL

Phone Controls Section Location

Right underneath the "My Profile" section around the middle of the page.
old_wiz_60

join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA
·Verizon FIOS

This option does not show up on 'my verizon'/My Profile. there is no 'phone controls' section. Maybe it only shows up in states where verizon has been forced to do it. I'm in Mass.

I always assume Verizon will sell any and all info they can collect about users as long as someone will pay for it.

The profile page at 'my verizon' says you can opt out of special offers, but this only applies to e-mail. You still can get weekly calls from Verizon offering new services and trying to get you to upgrade. Verizon says that the 'do not call' does NOT apply to them since they have a business relationship with you, so they can call as often as they wish to offer you special deals. I've begged them to stop, but they don't so whenever I see Verizon on caller-id I ignore the call. They do leave messages on the machine, so I just erase them without listening.
old_wiz_60

join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA

Re: My Verizon Customers Can Opt Out Online - I Just Did

It appears the 'phone controls' section only applies to cell phones.

NPGMBR

join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA
Thanks for the info. Mine was already selected "not to share" but I don't ever remember doing it myself but it has been a long time.
chronoss2009

join:2008-09-23

thats almost sounds like bell canada

GO use the website, go there login and guess what yo end up getting a reply back from bell tv asking for a pin number when you haven't had tv.
HAHA
yaaaaa

i feel like just saying NEIT
( monty python)
andyross

join:2003-05-04
Schaumburg, IL

Also got note from AT&T

I also got a CPNI note, but this was a separate snail mail postcard from AT&T.

I just called the 800 number, which is automated. Follow the prompts and you are done.

Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
USA

We opted out

My wife called to opt us out. The first time she called, she couldn't get through (the number didn't work). The second time, she got through and opted us out.

I posted to Twitter about it and ended up in an online argument with someone calling me paranoid about this whole thing. They claimed that the fine print specified that Verizon doesn't give the information to third parties. I countered that the actual fine print says "CPNI will not be shared with unrelated third parties." That's not all third parties, but "unrelated" third parties. Exactly what does unrelated mean? Does it just mean that the third party hasn't signed on to become an "affiliate" or "agent" yet? I don't like the vagueness of the language and I think that it is quite reasonable to have a touch of paranoia when it comes to big businesses and your privacy.
--
-Jason Levine
Support a children's charity. Buy a calendar and/or a photo book. Shooting For A Cause

FLengineer
Premium
join:2007-06-26
Leesburg, FL
·Vonage
·Comcast
·T-Mobile US
·Embarq

For now.. But what about the future?

"the information is only shared within Verizon and Vodafone"

That may true right now but "45-days to "opt out" of having this information shared with "affiliates, agents and parent companies." means there's nothing to stop them from making say... NebuAd an affiliate.
old_wiz_60

join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA

Re: For now.. But what about the future?

Exactly! they can decide NebuAd or Google Money Tree or any telemarketer can be an affiliate.

mudpie1

Change of contract Terms

Little known factoid. Anytime a vendor changes the terms of a contract, ie Verizon Wireless info sharing, a consumer has the right to not accept the terms and opt out of the contract as well. Same with credit cards.
AVonGauss
Premium,MVM
join:2007-11-01
Boynton Beach, FL

Opt-out

If you're a Verizon wireless customer, I would file a complaint with the FCC regarding this practice. A customer should not have to "opt-out" to protect their privacy.

If anybody is going to be sharing (read: selling) a wireless subscribers usage data, it should be the wireless subscriber.
Shame? For that to be a factor or deterrent, that would require an ethical foundation which does not seem to be present as demonstrated by this policy and how it is being implemented.
Forums » Verizon Hit By Internet Privacy Freak Out


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