XPost: alt.privacy.anon-server, alt.privacy, alt.cellular.verizon   
   XPost: alt.politics.usa.constitution   
   From: mixmaster@remailer.cpunk.us   
      
   The carrier will monitor not just your wireless activities but   
   also what you do on your wired or Wi-Fi-connected computers,   
   then share that data with marketers.   
      
   As far as corporate notices go, they don't get much creepier   
   than this recent alert from Verizon Wireless.   
      
   The company says it's "enhancing" its Relevant Mobile   
   Advertising program, which it uses to collect data on customers'   
   online habits so that marketers can pitch stuff at them with   
   greater precision.   
      
   "In addition to the customer information that's currently part   
   of the program, we will soon use an anonymous, unique identifier   
   we create when you register on our websites," Verizon Wireless   
   is telling customers.   
      
   "This identifier may allow an advertiser to use information they   
   have about your visits to websites from your desktop computer to   
   deliver marketing messages to mobile devices on our network," it   
   says.   
      
   That means exactly what it looks like: Verizon will monitor not   
   just your wireless activities but also what you do on your wired   
   or Wi-Fi-connected laptop or desktop computer — even if your   
   computer doesn't have a Verizon connection.   
      
   The company will then share that additional data with marketers.   
      
   Joanne Schwartz, 65, of Tustin received the Verizon Wireless   
   notice last week.   
      
   "Verizon makes it seem like they are doing us a great favor,"   
   she told me. But what the company is really doing, she said, is   
   collecting data on her whole family's computer usage and sharing   
   it with its business partners.   
      
   Schwartz's verdict: "Horrible."   
      
   Even worse, Verizon is enrolling customers in the "enhanced"   
   program by automatically downloading software into their   
   computers, which customers may not even know is happening.   
      
   If Verizon Wireless customers want to keep their computers off-   
   limits to the company's marketing affiliates, they'd have to go   
   to the trouble of opting out.   
      
   This is one of the more outrageous examples of how businesses   
   loudly proclaim their commitment to safeguarding consumers'   
   privacy while quietly selling us out to the highest bidder.   
      
   "The holy grail for profiling people is to follow them from one   
   device to another," said Paul Stephens, director of policy and   
   advocacy for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego.   
   "We're going to see more and more of this."   
      
   I wrote last week about how Verizon and AT&T slap customers with   
   hefty monthly fees if they want an unlisted phone number. Call   
   it a privacy premium.   
      
   What Verizon Wireless is doing with targeted ads is basically   
   what Google, Yahoo and most other big Internet companies do —   
   leveraging data about your cyber-behavior to boost marketing   
   money.   
      
   But here's the thing: Google and Yahoo offer lots of cool free   
   services, such as Gmail and Yahoo Finance. Their aggressive data   
   collection is how they help subsidize these offerings.   
      
   In Verizon Wireless' case, customers pay them upfront for the   
   services they receive. Thus, any additional revenue the company   
   can pocket from data collection is above and beyond what it's   
   already earning.   
      
   Since Verizon Wireless clearly isn't offering its service at a   
   loss, this extra cash is nothing but gravy.   
      
   Customers may be hard-pressed to understand fully what's going   
   on with the "enhanced" program. The Verizon Wireless notice is   
   decidedly short on details.   
      
   Debra Lewis, a Verizon Wireless spokeswoman, explained to me   
   that when a customer registers on the company's "My Verizon"   
   website to see a bill or watch TV online, a "cookie," or   
   tracking software, is downloaded onto the customer's home   
   computer.   
      
   http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-   
   20140425,0,2539606.column   
      
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