Cell phone companies selling personal data

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/technology/ct-biz-cell-phone-selling-personal-data-110111,0,7594011.story

CNN

6:12 a.m. CDT, November 1, 2011

Your phone company knows where you live, what websites you visit, what apps you download, what videos you like to watch, and even where you are. Now, some have begun selling that valuable information to the highest bidder.

In mid-October, Verizon Wireless changed its privacy policy to allow the company to record customers' location data and Web browsing history, combine it with other personal information like age and gender, aggregate it with millions of other customers' data, and sell it on an anonymized basis.

That kind of data could be very useful -- and lucrative -- to third-party companies. For instance, if a small business owner wanted to figure out the best place to open a new pet store, the owner could buy a marketing report from Verizon about a designated area. The report might reveal which city blocks get the most foot or car traffic from people whose Web browsing history reveals that they own pets.

[Fumesucker]

1. Wasn't Verizon one of the telcos that got retroactively immunized by the FISA bill?

For illegally spying on the public?

[hobbit709]

2. That's why I use my anonymous Tracfone.

Buy an airtime card once a year at many stores and enter the number into the phone.

[HappyMe]

4. Yup.

$25 for the phone, no bill in the mail.

[formercia]

6. Yup

..and it's cheaper than a monthly account since I only use a few hundred minutes a year. Pay in cash so there is no cross reference to the phone pin number with your credit card.

[IDemo]

3. No apps, no websites, no videos on mine

Dumb cell phones have their advantages.

[Trillo]

5. If it's your information from your cell phone, you should get the money.

Not some service company you've hired.

These are the acts of criminals, their stealing documented right on front page news.