Unlikely hero emerges amid dark times for privacy, security (FCC)
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If so, users' fears will be heightened by news this week that Verizon and AT&T are using cookies to track mobile users and target them with ads. According to a Forbes report, the companies are "tagging their customers with unique codes that are visible to third parties, making smartphone users far easier to track on the Web than they've ever been before."
While AT&T claims it's building in a unique code that changes every 24 hours, to protect users' privacy, the researcher who discovered the tracking called that "categorically untrue," saying he found three identifying codes sent by AT&T that were persistent. For details on how to check whether your smartphone is leaking code, go to the lessonslearned site.
AT&T finds itself in the FCC's crosshairs this week as well. The agency has sued the wireless giant for misleading millions of consumers with its promises of unlimited data, when it was in fact throttling their data speeds "to the point that many common mobile phone applications -- like Web browsing, GPS navigation, and watching streaming video -- become difficult or nearly impossible to use." The FCC found speeds were slowed in some cases by nearly 90 percent.
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The FCC also acted recently to defend the privacy of consumer data, levying a $10 million fine against two telecom companies that failed to safeguard users' personal information. The FCC says YourTel America and TerraCom collected Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, names, and drivers' license numbers from applicants to the government's Lifeline telephone subsidy program, and "failed to employ reasonable data security practices to protect consumers' personal information."
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http://www.infoworld.com/article/2841395/security/fears-over-hacking-data-security-trump-other-crimes.html
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