17 ms·

T-Mobile to share customers' data with advertisers unless they opt out

373 points by 34679 6y ago

SheinhardtWigCo 6y ago
Doesn't the CCPA protect customers in California from having their browsing data used for ad targeting without an explicit opt-in? edit: to answer my own question, no it does not. I'm thinking of GDPR.
- black_puppydog 6y ago
  Whoops. Easy mistake to make if you know how to expand CCPA. Well, nothing to do here I guess. We'll need to let the market figure this out I guess. `shrug` ... /s
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
cwkoss 6y ago
Anyone have a link where I can opt out?
- ilamont 6y ago
  Just attempted to change settings via "Advertising & Analytics" on the mobile app. Error: "Looks like we got our wires crossed"
- room505 6y ago
  From https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/our-practices/privacy-policy https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/our-practices/privac... https://www.t-mobile.com/content/t-mobile/corporate/privacy-center/take-control-of-your-data/modal-dns.html https://www.t-mobile.com/content/t-mobile/corporate/privacy-... https://t-mobile.static.services.wirewheel.io/ https://t-mobile.static.services.wirewheel.io/ https://www.t-mobile.com/dns?brand=Magenta&site=Sell_App&origin_url=PrivacyCenter https://www.t-mobile.com/dns?brand=Magenta&site=Sell_App&ori...
- sdfhbdf 6y ago
  Here's the "Do not sell my data" form: https://www.t-mobile.com/content/t-mobile/corporate/privacy-center/take-control-of-your-data/modal-dns.html https://www.t-mobile.com/content/t-mobile/corporate/privacy-... There is more opt-out links with different degree of opt-out on the top of the privacy policy: https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/our-practices/privacy-policy https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/our-practices/privac...
sdfhbdf 6y ago
I feel like US is really behind on federal ePrivacy and personal data regulations. Seems like CCPA is a step in the right direction but should be implemented on federal level.
- ProAm 6y ago
  > I feel like US is really behind on ...everything that matters
  - cynoclast 6y ago
    Everything that matters to the working class* Our imperialism, weapons tech, and exploitation of the working class are top notch. The amount banks take from people with no money in overdraft fees alone should be cause for a revolution.
  - oh_sigh 6y ago
    Can we please not turn HN into reddit?
    - ProAm 6y ago
      This was not a reddit-esque comment. But a real one that could actually be discussed like adults on HN. I believe my statement/comment.
      - oh_sigh 6y ago
        You expect adults to gather around and discuss your 3 word, massively generalized post? Ok.
        ProAm 6y ago
        How many word would you like? I think you understood what my point was, as for it was clear and succinct. Did you want bullet points and references? America is currently largely a failed state (in terms of future global power), has the most funded military that cannot win wars but serves as a jobs program and as result is a large part of its own economy. A medical system that is expensive but cannot meet the needs of its people and also has a non-functioning government however it is a country with a lot economic inertia. This inertia will be a long slow deceleration that will lead it to fate similar of England.
tjohns 6y ago
Does this apply to users on T-Mobile's network via MVNOs, or only customers who subscribe directly to T-Mobile?
- selimthegrim 6y ago
  Seconding - I should call Ting and see.
  - dawnerd 6y ago
    If Ting is using the T-mobile network then I'd assume T-mobile is still selling that data, even if not as granular as direct app tracking.
    - selimthegrim 6y ago
      Their staff on Reddit deny it and claim we are bound by different TOS
- mike_d 6y ago
  The opt-out applies only to T-Mobile, the data collection applies to everything connected to the T-Mobile network.
landstrom 6y ago
From Mac Rumors: T-Mobile customers can opt out of the advertising program through the T-Mobile app or the T-Mobile website. In the app, access the "MORE" tab, select Advertising & Analytics, and toggle off "Use my data to make ads more relevant to me." On the website(https://www.t-mobile.com/signin https://www.t-mobile.com/signin), choose "My Account," select "Profile, Privacy, and Notifications, then choose Advertising "& Analytics. From there, turn the opt-in toggle off. Sprint users can change the setting through the Sprint website. Select "Visit My Account," choose "Preferences" and then scroll down to "Manage advertising and analytics preferences." From here, turn off "Use my data to make ads more relevant to me." Took me a few reloads throughout this process
- tzs 6y ago
  It doesn't seem to work for prepaid T-Mobile customers. The menus at prepaid.t-mobile.com are slightly different, and don't seem to have the necessary options. Prepaid customers definitely seem to be second class customers at T-Mobile. First, the T-Mobile app doesn't work for us. It says "Sorry we're not ready for you yet. We're working on improving your app experience" and tells you to use the website. It's been doing that for several years now. Second, they don't support paying with Apple pay. And now, it looks like we don't get the same privacy options that postpaid customers get. I don't understand why they have this separation.
  - hbcondo714 6y ago
    Yup, it's not just you. I've been receiving that same sorry message in the app ever since I switched from T-Mobile regular to T-Mobile prepaid last year. During the switch, I had to provide all my information all over again even though I was with T-Mobile for many years. The customer service rep said it's because they are "two different systems".
    - tzs 6y ago
      Even though it is supposedly "two different systems", they still manage to interact in annoying ways. First, you can't use the same email to sign up with the prepaid system that you used for the postpaid system. I'm not sure what people do who only have one email address. Second, assuming you keep the same phone number when you switch from postpaid to prepaid, once you login with your second email to you prepaid account and associate that phone number with it, you can no longer login to the postpaid account. If you try to login to the postpaid account by phone number, it knows that is no longer a T-Mobile postpaid number, so it does not work. If you try to login by email, that works, but then you get stuck at a screen asking you to provide your T-Mobile phone number (and it means T-Mobile postpaid phone number). Frankly, if I had known this beforehand I probably would not have went with T-Mobile prepaid. I probably would have went with Mint, which is a T-Mobile MVNO. My T-Mobile prepaid plan is $15/month with 2 GB of data. If you pay for a year at a time, Mint has a $15/month plan with 4 GB of data. The only reason I went with T-Mobile is I assumed that since I was going from T-Mobile to T-Mobile, there would be no need to change SIMs and port my number. I'd just be billed differently. Nope, new SIM and a number port. Mint also handles data better than T-Mobile as far as I can see. I've got WiFi at home, and most of the places I go to when not home either have their own free WiFi or there is an Xfinity hotspot near which is free to me since I have Xfinity internet, so almost never use even a gig of cellular data. But it is nice to have as a backup. Last summer, for example, there was an accident that messed up lines on a nearby utility pole, taking out my internet. It took a couple days for Comcast to get that fixed and I relied on my mobile phone hotspot. As far as I can see with my T-Mobile prepaid...once I hit 2 GB in a month, that's it. There doesn't seem to be any way to purchase additional data. With Mint, you can by extra data. In short, T-Mobile prepaid is essentially like a T-Mobile MVNO, but not a very good one (no mobile app, can't add extra data on demand), and due to their systems sharing some data with T-Mobile postpaid, switching to them is harder for T-Mobile postpaid customers than it is for customers of any other carrier.
techsupporter 6y ago
What really frustrates me is I had already turned off all of the "personalized advertising" toggles I could find prior to this. But I log in to turn these off and the ones I'd touched before were back on. Increasingly, the "if you're not paying then you're the product" saying is bunk. I am paying, almost $400 per month, for quite a few SIMs to be active on T-Mobile's network yet that's not enough. They have to harvest data about me for even more. (Don't come at me with the "a company is legally required to take in all of the money it possibly can for its shareholders" bit. Nothing says a company can't make a reasonable business decision to leave money on the table.)
- idatum 6y ago
  I noticed the same thing: I opted out (both analytics and ads options) a few months ago when I switched to T-Mobile. They since ignored my preferences and opted me back in. Unbelievable. I don't even know when they did this. Do I now have to keep checking on these settings?? Changing privacy preferences without my knowledge or permission must be made illegal. Total FB like move. Also, I'm generally tired of this concept of "ads relevant to me" BS.
  - SllX 6y ago
    Except Facebook had respected every single privacy toggle I ever set when I had my account. I looked this morning expecting to find an additional toggle and found several settings I thought were toggled off were toggled on. I was thinking this was an oversight on my part until I saw this thread, but now I’m not so sure.
    - luplex 6y ago
      I'm pretty sure Facebook is really careful around this stuff. it's illegal for them to ignore your previously made privacy choices. Facebook can't afford to break the law in such an obvious way.
      - SllX 6y ago
        No, I’m going to give them full kudos here, not the cynical “they have to be careful because reasons” type of kudos, but the full-bodied rich in flavor type of kudos. I created my account in 2007 and would regularly check the privacy settings every time they made a change of any kind up to the point I stopped using and later removed the account over a decade later. Not one privacy setting that I exerted manual control over ever changed out from under me. Whatever controversies they came under in that time with all the additional accompanying scrutiny, this aspect never changed. Perhaps there are counter examples out there, but that’s how it was for me.
jb1991 6y ago
Does this apply to T-mobile service outside the U.S.?
tablespoon 6y ago
John Legere, who was responsible for T-Mobile's norm-shattering "uncarrier" direction, resigned last year after the Sprint merger went through. Now that T-Mobile isn't a scrappy underdog anymore, I think we can expect more American business-as-usual customer exploitation from them.
- pcdoodle 6y ago
  John is also a great CEO keynote speaker (kind of like jobs). Watch his uncarrier keynotes on youtube if you're interested.
- sircastor 6y ago
  I really liked Legere as a CEO. I think he did more to advance consumer benefits in the telco industry than anyone else in the last 10 years. His efforts made Verizon and AT&T have to move, at least a little from their cushy duopoly position
- trimbo 6y ago
  I was a customer of theirs for years and he would respond on Twitter to random customers (me included, a couple times). Seemed like a really great leader.
  - joecool1029 6y ago
    Neville Ray is great too and is probably the C-level that's been there the longest. Unlike Sprint, T-Mobile has usually made fairly pragmatic technology choices and usually beats their build-out estimates (unheard of at any of the other majors). He's also nice on Twitter and I've had a few exchanges with him like asking if they were ready for the last leap second, and he once dispatched a COLT (cell on light truck) to support the network when we had a large festival some summers back after I asked.
- neltnerb 6y ago
  Yeah, they were amazing... ten years ago when I started using them. Now they block my wifi calling for no technological reason, opt me in to invasive monitoring, sell my information, force me to call them to change anything about my account because they broke their own previously working website to make being pepaid harder... getting really hard to justify sticking around.
skykooler 6y ago
> “We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting,” a T-Mobile spokeswoman told the paper. How many?
- tablespoon 6y ago
  All the people on the adtech team.
  - marshmallow_12 6y ago
    There must be a whole civilization of ad-loving people, maybe they live on Mars, maybe on the dark side of the Moon. The only people aware of their existence are Google, FB and co. They inundate these companies requesting better and more targeted ads. "I'm paying for your services, i want creepier ads!" they complain. (Yes, FB has figured out they can charge them money)
- neltnerb 6y ago
  "We had a very scientific study where we asked people if they prefer to have to watch ads that are irrelevant to them, or which might possibly be relevant to them." (imagined quote from the marketing team meeting)
- fumar 6y ago
  They run surveys that ask questions like "do you prefer advertising that appeals to you? or "are you more likely to make a purchase based on relevant advertising?" People assume that the questions are asking broadly "do I want to see a car ad vs a diaper ad?" That is not the case – these are hyper targeted ads based on their usage patterns gathered from their digital devices. Often times, these surveys also include questions that lead users to respond with "I believe in value exchange between ads and the content I consume." Obviously marketers, ad tech, publishers, etc run with these studies as a panacea for the work they output.
- yellowapple 6y ago
  Two many.
- 6y ago
tracedddd 6y ago
Pathetic that this is even happening. Is there any trustworthy cell provider now? I’d switch over this but T-Mobile was the one least complicit in NSA spying.
mbreese 6y ago
Not that this makes it right, but AT&T does something similar. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Verizon did the same. But it is sad when your network provider just decides to sell everything they know about you and who you’re talking to. https://www.att.com/legal/terms.enhancedRelevantAdvertising.html https://www.att.com/legal/terms.enhancedRelevantAdvertising.... And even though they call it opt-in, everyone is automatic enrolled in a form of this unless they opt-out. > All customers are automatically in the basic Relevant Advertising program, but we still give you a choice. You can opt out of the Relevant Advertising program at www.att.com/cmpchoice.
- ArchOversight 6y ago
  > AT&T automatically enrolls wireless subscribers in a basic ad program that pools them into groups, and Verizon similarly pools subscriber data before sharing with advertisers, the Journal reported. The article even mentions exactly that...
- yellowapple 6y ago
  Yep. Even with this incident, T-Mobile is still most likely the least bad of the bunch. Which is depressing to think about. As I mentioned in a cousin comment, it seems like we're overdue for a cellular cooperative, much like how credit unions work. It's becoming increasingly apparent that traditional corporations can't be trusted to act in the best interests of their customers, especially when they exist as natural monopolies.
sneak 6y ago
Guess it's time to opt out of T-Mobile entirely. Bummer, switching is pure overhead. :/ These days I use a Fi data-only SIM in a battery-powered travel router that runs a VPN, and only ever use my mobile devices via Wi-Fi to that, anyway. I use throwaway gmail accounts with Google Voice for stuff that still insists on PSTN phone numbers. I kept my T-Mo SIM with my decade-old phone number (in a $19 dumbphone, no less!) but it might be time to abandon that now.
- websites2323 6y ago
  Which router do you use? I've been considering this solution for a while. It seems inconvenient, but I might get used to it to avoid this fuckery.
  - sneak 6y ago
    GL.iNet GL-E750 I keep forgetting it's on in my bag when I come home, then it's dead when I go to leave the house again. Fortunately I have a USB outlet in my car; I don't keep SIM cards in any other devices now (other than my dumbphone for SMS).
nikisweeting 6y ago
Their privacy policy on iOS is also blatantly misleading. They claim to not collect any identity-linked location info, and also claim that your purchases are somehow not tied to your identity, both of which are demonstrably false. https://twitter.com/thesquashSH/status/1369089325040828421 https://twitter.com/thesquashSH/status/1369089325040828421
jbluepolarbear 6y ago
Opt out should be illegal. It’s never in the users favor.
- Forbo 6y ago
  There are some things that I wish were opt out, for instance organ donation.
  - jbluepolarbear 6y ago
    I still think that needs to be opt in. I am an organ donor because I don’t care what happens to my body when I die, but I know a lot of people that do care and it should still be their decision.
    - BLKNSLVR 6y ago
      Not directed at you jbluepolarbear, asking questions to the void. It's an interesting philosophical topic. But is it your body once you're dead? Do you even get to care at that point? What literal difference does it make to you, after death? What are you going to do about it? I've been able to capture brief moments in which I've been able to grasp the completeness of the lack of agency that death brings. It's simultaneously chillingly horrifying and freeing.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
  - hansel_der 6y ago
    once organ donation ist opt-out, it is very hard to deny the economical incentive to "not find the opt-out", withold treatment or prematurely declare death especially for patients of lower status/rank/credit. i don't think this is a path any scociety would want to go.
xyst 6y ago
t-mobile has been using this as their default option for some time now (more than a year?). I recall seeing a post on /r/tmobile talking about it - I'll see if I can dig it up EDIT: more than 2 years ago! https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/comments/ahio9n/tmobile_data_mining_by_default_opt_out_available/ https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/comments/ahio9n/tmobile_dat...
- heroprotagonist 6y ago
  I definitely opted out of this already. I even contacted their support about concerns over the way they sell location data upon opt-in (hint: their opt-in requirement for sharing your location was completely up to the location aggregator and the end customer buying location data to enforce. eg, not enforced at all). The main point I made was that this was not able to be opted out of via their preferences, and that having opted out of all possibilities, my cell number was still revealing location data when entered into one of those aggregation services. They had me snail mail a letter to a PO box. I never got a reply. Yet today _all_ of their privacy settings have been reset to opt-in status. And I still can't stop them from giving my location to anyone who tells their API "Yes, I have his permission".
marshmallow_12 6y ago
This would bother me a bit but 2 points: a)i'm not on t-mobile and b) they've already been hacked, your data is out there regardless.
- Arainach 6y ago
  At no point has "web and mobile app data" been listed as something accessed in any breach.
  - marshmallow_12 6y ago
    yet
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
myrandomcomment 6y ago
So to turn this off log into your account in a browser. Account on the main bar > Profile and Settings > Privacy and Notifications > Advertising & Analytics > then click on each line and turn it off. reply
swiley 6y ago
Yikes I'd dump T-mobile if I had it... I wonder if I'm too late for puts.
- missedthecue 6y ago
  This will make them more competitive. On what world does it make sense to buy a highly levered, decaying, short term downside hedging instrument here.
jonpurdy 6y ago
This sort of thing drives me crazy. It's so pervasive that it's impossible for users to keep up with opting out of everything. All one can really do is treat corporations adversarially and assume the worst. It's crazy that I need to run a VPN from my home since my own ISP would use deep packet inspection (aside from logging DNS entries) to profile my household for advertising purposes. Recommendations: - Mullvad: they take cryptocurrency, account ID is a randomly generated number that can't be recovered, no logging, support Wireguard, reasonably fast, works well on mobile - Cloudflare WARP: centralized corp but they don't sell customer data and aren't incentivized to do so (disclaimer: for now), really damn fast since you're probably hitting Cloudflare sites from your ISP anyway, they use Wireguard (but in a custom setup), works really well on mobile
compiler-guy 6y ago
“We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting,” To the extent that anyone wants ads, of course they want more relevant ads. It's a truism. But that doesn't mean that they want to trade their privacy for such things. And this is T-mobile's duplicity.
exabrial 6y ago
Seems every company becoming a bunch of dicks lately.
- yellowapple 6y ago
  Because they're incentivized to maximize profit, even at the customers' expense. If only they were incentivized to cater to their customers exclusively, and if only the customers were the shareholders and therefore were able to hold the companies accountable for their behavior.
  - asdff 6y ago
    If only the essential utilities the public relied upon were owned by the public.
- willcipriano 6y ago
  We are moving from a high trust to low trust society.
natas 6y ago
I tried to opt out, and it wouldn't let me to.
- natas 6y ago
  I've also tried to email their privacy team using the email address they have provided, as I couldn't opt out (it threw an error), and it bounced right away with a message indicating that they were not monitoring this email address.
natas 6y ago
comcast does too
- ece 6y ago
  Their opt-out is here: https://www.xfinity.com/privacy/opt-out https://www.xfinity.com/privacy/opt-out Somebody on Ars linked to opt-outs for AT&T/VZ/MVNOs here: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/t-mobile-will-tell-advertisers-how-you-use-the-web-starting-next-month/?comments=1&post=39728472#comment-39728472 https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/t-mobile-will-te...
psybient 6y ago
I saw this today and am unhappy with the news. I'm on a Pixel, but my wife is on an iPhone. We're both on Wi-Fi 90%+ of the time. Since I'm heavily invested in the Google ecosystem, potentially switching to Fi just looks better and better. I hear it even works on the iPhone with some limitations. We're not huge data users, so having truly unlimited data, while nice, is not really required.
- techrat 6y ago
  GoogleFi still uses the T-Mobile network. I suspect that without a way for MVNOs to have a way for their customers to log into the T-Mobile page to opt-out, the data sharing is still in effect. On MintSim, myself.
  - psybient 6y ago
    You make a good point. I'm also wondering if T-Mobile allows Fi customers to be de-prioritized or is Google big enough that T-Mobile wouldn't dare. I'll look into MintSim. Thanks for the tip.
  - varenc 6y ago
    I doubt this. Presumably if this was true Google Fi would have to provide at least some notice of this? Especially since T-Mobile had to update their privacy policy before rolling this out. Also Google Fi has no incentive to permit this. (Assuming they get a say)
totalZero 6y ago
“We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting,” a T-Mobile spokeswoman told the paper. Can a company be legally liable for this kind of lie?
- psybient 6y ago
  Sadly, probably not. They likely asked "hand-selected" people about ads and went with it, similar to products being "doctor recommended" when the manufacturer asked one doctor.
- banana_giraffe 6y ago
  "Do you want ads that are more relevant to you?" vs "Do you want unknown third party companies to track your online activity to provide you with ads they believe you'll engage with more often?" I swear there are entire industries that exist to obscure the elephant in the room.
- BLKNSLVR 6y ago
  Define "many". Get three people to say it, and they're probably legally covered. Hell, get Management to say that they prefer more relevant ads, with the sideline commentary being "because we can sell your data" and it's a paraphrasing, but it's not untrue. Experts recommend... Critics say... Customer survey results indicated... Give me the raw stats or it's bunkum.
  - Springtime 6y ago
    They're what I've seen Wikipedia editors call 'weasel words' [1] when there's no definite source for a statistic yet someone is attempting to convey an air of authority. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_word https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_word
bassman9000 6y ago
I opted out 3 seconds after I got the email from them, and took the opportunity to also disable other marketing options that I hadn't noticed before.
cambalache 6y ago
A 500M-1billion fine. Those fuckers will only behave until one of those shenanigans can make them broke.
surround 6y ago
Wait, what? They have always been sharing data with advertisers. What, exactly, is the change?
breakfastduck 6y ago
"Fuck the ethics, most people won't even find out" - T-Mobile
- BLKNSLVR 6y ago
  You need to preface it with "Many T-Mobile Managers say"
- asdff 6y ago
  I'm sure the average consumer reads the OP headline and doesn't care at all. "Great! I love buying dropshipped crap from instagram ads!" they will say.
jariel 6y ago
This needs to be illegal.
kelnos 6y ago
> “We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting,” a T-Mobile spokeswoman told the paper. Am I in a bubble when I find that completely foreign to my experience or that of my social group? Do average customers actually answer on surveys that they would prefer more relevant ads? Or is T-Mo just flat-out lying through their teeth here?
- ianlevesque 6y ago
  Generally these surveys compare that to paying more to not have it (even though so far except for AT&T fiber I have yet to actually see a service charge more when you opt out).
- gameman144 6y ago
  I imagine these surveys just tend to omit the required consequences of each choice. E.g. asked "Do you want to pay less in tax or more in tax?", most people would likely answer "less", but if you outlined all the things they'd lose with lower taxes, a lot of those votes would flip. In this case, I imagine people said that they'd prefer more relevant ads (I know I do), but then T-Mobile used that as justification to do all sorts of other things that weren't asked about.
bogomipz 6y ago
It's amazing that coming off of the heals of their 4th customer data breach in 4 years in January[1], they have decided their priority should be selling their customer's data. It guess the Sprint merger put them over the edge and finally allowed them take their rightful place next the AT&T and Verizon in the toilet. [1] https://threatpost.com/t-mobile-another-data-breach/162703/ https://threatpost.com/t-mobile-another-data-breach/162703/
AlexCoventry 6y ago
I'd been procrastinating on running a VPN on my phone, and this got me moving. Thanks, T-Mobile.
- hansel_der 6y ago
  this is about the metadata (which cell your phone is connected to and when) not your traffic per se, so vpn wont help you at all
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
IG_Semmelweiss 6y ago
Question - I have a Droid LG V20 , think the device is from 2017. Never updated. Running 8.0 When I run the Tmobile app (wanted to peek at settings), its asking me to update. Should I do it ? Am i safe if i dont update this monster to suck my data ?
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
hysan 6y ago
So what can people reasonably do anymore? As others have mentioned, even when you do due diligence and turn off settings, companies are now flipping settings back. What recourse is left now?
oh_sigh 6y ago
Would using a VPN (like WARP) prevent T-mobile from collecting any information?
- hansel_der 6y ago
  no
BLKNSLVR 6y ago
Is it too late for governments to legislate against the sale of customer data? Legally make it opt-in rather than opt-out, as well as including provision for customers to request details of what data related to them has been sold to which companies. It feels as if it's too late because the economic base of companies that exist purely as leeches off collected and processed personal data is large enough that it could cause economic problems for the jurisdiction brave enough to attempt such legislation. ie. there's too much money already in the pot for the government to force players to fold their hands.
DamnInteresting 6y ago
I was a Sprint customer before the merger, and I received this notice via email a few days ago. It included links that were supposed to allow me opt out of my data to be sold, but none of the links worked with my Sprint login, so I seem to have no opt-out option. Blah. I was previously opted out of such things, and the merger appears to have opted me back in with no functional recourse.
varenc 6y ago
This is motivation to use encrypted DNS on your phone. Sniffing your DNS queries is a super simple way to build a detailed advertising profile of you and your browsing history. And DNS is unencrypted by default on almost all phones. By encrypting your queries, it becomes much more challenging for T-Mobile to determine exactly what services you’re using.
- ece 6y ago
  Tracker Control on Android allows changing DNS servers, but you could also use 1.1.1.1 from Cloudflare, Mozilla VPN and others.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
Thank you for sharing the article. I had no idea that garbage was turned on since I never download the t-mobile app. I did and there it was. Looks like I'd turned off anything else to minimize t-mobile spying. I'm happy with their service, at least in my area. I'm still holding on to my iphone X until 5g really makes sense. I haven't seen or heard any friends with it say OMG look at this. Phones are a utility I don't need ads on there as well.
cascom 6y ago
For what it’s worth I’ve reported their non functioning website/and changing my opt-out preferences to the fcc and my state attorney general, not expecting anything, but it was cathartic.

373 points by 34679 6y ago

Doesn't the CCPA protect customers in California from having their browsing data used for ad targeting without an explicit opt-in? edit: to answer my own question, no it does not. I'm thinking of GDPR.

black_puppydog 6y ago
Whoops. Easy mistake to make if you know how to expand CCPA. Well, nothing to do here I guess. We'll need to let the market figure this out I guess. `shrug` ... /s

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

cwkoss 6y ago

Anyone have a link where I can opt out?

ilamont 6y ago
Just attempted to change settings via "Advertising & Analytics" on the mobile app. Error: "Looks like we got our wires crossed"
room505 6y ago
From https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/our-practices/privacy-policy https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/our-practices/privac... https://www.t-mobile.com/content/t-mobile/corporate/privacy-center/take-control-of-your-data/modal-dns.html https://www.t-mobile.com/content/t-mobile/corporate/privacy-... https://t-mobile.static.services.wirewheel.io/ https://t-mobile.static.services.wirewheel.io/ https://www.t-mobile.com/dns?brand=Magenta&site=Sell_App&origin_url=PrivacyCenter https://www.t-mobile.com/dns?brand=Magenta&site=Sell_App&ori...
sdfhbdf 6y ago
Here's the "Do not sell my data" form: https://www.t-mobile.com/content/t-mobile/corporate/privacy-center/take-control-of-your-data/modal-dns.html https://www.t-mobile.com/content/t-mobile/corporate/privacy-... There is more opt-out links with different degree of opt-out on the top of the privacy policy: https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/our-practices/privacy-policy https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/our-practices/privac...

sdfhbdf 6y ago

I feel like US is really behind on federal ePrivacy and personal data regulations. Seems like CCPA is a step in the right direction but should be implemented on federal level.

ProAm 6y ago
> I feel like US is really behind on ...everything that matters
- cynoclast 6y ago
  Everything that matters to the working class* Our imperialism, weapons tech, and exploitation of the working class are top notch. The amount banks take from people with no money in overdraft fees alone should be cause for a revolution.
- oh_sigh 6y ago
  Can we please not turn HN into reddit?
  - ProAm 6y ago
    This was not a reddit-esque comment. But a real one that could actually be discussed like adults on HN. I believe my statement/comment.
    - oh_sigh 6y ago
      You expect adults to gather around and discuss your 3 word, massively generalized post? Ok.
      - ProAm 6y ago
        How many word would you like? I think you understood what my point was, as for it was clear and succinct. Did you want bullet points and references? America is currently largely a failed state (in terms of future global power), has the most funded military that cannot win wars but serves as a jobs program and as result is a large part of its own economy. A medical system that is expensive but cannot meet the needs of its people and also has a non-functioning government however it is a country with a lot economic inertia. This inertia will be a long slow deceleration that will lead it to fate similar of England.

tjohns 6y ago

Does this apply to users on T-Mobile's network via MVNOs, or only customers who subscribe directly to T-Mobile?

selimthegrim 6y ago
Seconding - I should call Ting and see.
- dawnerd 6y ago
  If Ting is using the T-mobile network then I'd assume T-mobile is still selling that data, even if not as granular as direct app tracking.
  - selimthegrim 6y ago
    Their staff on Reddit deny it and claim we are bound by different TOS
mike_d 6y ago
The opt-out applies only to T-Mobile, the data collection applies to everything connected to the T-Mobile network.

landstrom 6y ago

From Mac Rumors: T-Mobile customers can opt out of the advertising program through the T-Mobile app or the T-Mobile website. In the app, access the "MORE" tab, select Advertising & Analytics, and toggle off "Use my data to make ads more relevant to me." On the website(https://www.t-mobile.com/signin https://www.t-mobile.com/signin), choose "My Account," select "Profile, Privacy, and Notifications, then choose Advertising "& Analytics. From there, turn the opt-in toggle off. Sprint users can change the setting through the Sprint website. Select "Visit My Account," choose "Preferences" and then scroll down to "Manage advertising and analytics preferences." From here, turn off "Use my data to make ads more relevant to me." Took me a few reloads throughout this process

tzs 6y ago
It doesn't seem to work for prepaid T-Mobile customers. The menus at prepaid.t-mobile.com are slightly different, and don't seem to have the necessary options. Prepaid customers definitely seem to be second class customers at T-Mobile. First, the T-Mobile app doesn't work for us. It says "Sorry we're not ready for you yet. We're working on improving your app experience" and tells you to use the website. It's been doing that for several years now. Second, they don't support paying with Apple pay. And now, it looks like we don't get the same privacy options that postpaid customers get. I don't understand why they have this separation.
- hbcondo714 6y ago
  Yup, it's not just you. I've been receiving that same sorry message in the app ever since I switched from T-Mobile regular to T-Mobile prepaid last year. During the switch, I had to provide all my information all over again even though I was with T-Mobile for many years. The customer service rep said it's because they are "two different systems".
  - tzs 6y ago
    Even though it is supposedly "two different systems", they still manage to interact in annoying ways. First, you can't use the same email to sign up with the prepaid system that you used for the postpaid system. I'm not sure what people do who only have one email address. Second, assuming you keep the same phone number when you switch from postpaid to prepaid, once you login with your second email to you prepaid account and associate that phone number with it, you can no longer login to the postpaid account. If you try to login to the postpaid account by phone number, it knows that is no longer a T-Mobile postpaid number, so it does not work. If you try to login by email, that works, but then you get stuck at a screen asking you to provide your T-Mobile phone number (and it means T-Mobile postpaid phone number). Frankly, if I had known this beforehand I probably would not have went with T-Mobile prepaid. I probably would have went with Mint, which is a T-Mobile MVNO. My T-Mobile prepaid plan is $15/month with 2 GB of data. If you pay for a year at a time, Mint has a $15/month plan with 4 GB of data. The only reason I went with T-Mobile is I assumed that since I was going from T-Mobile to T-Mobile, there would be no need to change SIMs and port my number. I'd just be billed differently. Nope, new SIM and a number port. Mint also handles data better than T-Mobile as far as I can see. I've got WiFi at home, and most of the places I go to when not home either have their own free WiFi or there is an Xfinity hotspot near which is free to me since I have Xfinity internet, so almost never use even a gig of cellular data. But it is nice to have as a backup. Last summer, for example, there was an accident that messed up lines on a nearby utility pole, taking out my internet. It took a couple days for Comcast to get that fixed and I relied on my mobile phone hotspot. As far as I can see with my T-Mobile prepaid...once I hit 2 GB in a month, that's it. There doesn't seem to be any way to purchase additional data. With Mint, you can by extra data. In short, T-Mobile prepaid is essentially like a T-Mobile MVNO, but not a very good one (no mobile app, can't add extra data on demand), and due to their systems sharing some data with T-Mobile postpaid, switching to them is harder for T-Mobile postpaid customers than it is for customers of any other carrier.

techsupporter 6y ago

What really frustrates me is I had already turned off all of the "personalized advertising" toggles I could find prior to this. But I log in to turn these off and the ones I'd touched before were back on. Increasingly, the "if you're not paying then you're the product" saying is bunk. I am paying, almost $400 per month, for quite a few SIMs to be active on T-Mobile's network yet that's not enough. They have to harvest data about me for even more. (Don't come at me with the "a company is legally required to take in all of the money it possibly can for its shareholders" bit. Nothing says a company can't make a reasonable business decision to leave money on the table.)

idatum 6y ago
I noticed the same thing: I opted out (both analytics and ads options) a few months ago when I switched to T-Mobile. They since ignored my preferences and opted me back in. Unbelievable. I don't even know when they did this. Do I now have to keep checking on these settings?? Changing privacy preferences without my knowledge or permission must be made illegal. Total FB like move. Also, I'm generally tired of this concept of "ads relevant to me" BS.
- SllX 6y ago
  Except Facebook had respected every single privacy toggle I ever set when I had my account. I looked this morning expecting to find an additional toggle and found several settings I thought were toggled off were toggled on. I was thinking this was an oversight on my part until I saw this thread, but now I’m not so sure.
  - luplex 6y ago
    I'm pretty sure Facebook is really careful around this stuff. it's illegal for them to ignore your previously made privacy choices. Facebook can't afford to break the law in such an obvious way.
    - SllX 6y ago
      No, I’m going to give them full kudos here, not the cynical “they have to be careful because reasons” type of kudos, but the full-bodied rich in flavor type of kudos. I created my account in 2007 and would regularly check the privacy settings every time they made a change of any kind up to the point I stopped using and later removed the account over a decade later. Not one privacy setting that I exerted manual control over ever changed out from under me. Whatever controversies they came under in that time with all the additional accompanying scrutiny, this aspect never changed. Perhaps there are counter examples out there, but that’s how it was for me.

jb1991 6y ago

Does this apply to T-mobile service outside the U.S.?

tablespoon 6y ago

John Legere, who was responsible for T-Mobile's norm-shattering "uncarrier" direction, resigned last year after the Sprint merger went through. Now that T-Mobile isn't a scrappy underdog anymore, I think we can expect more American business-as-usual customer exploitation from them.

pcdoodle 6y ago
John is also a great CEO keynote speaker (kind of like jobs). Watch his uncarrier keynotes on youtube if you're interested.
sircastor 6y ago
I really liked Legere as a CEO. I think he did more to advance consumer benefits in the telco industry than anyone else in the last 10 years. His efforts made Verizon and AT&T have to move, at least a little from their cushy duopoly position
trimbo 6y ago
I was a customer of theirs for years and he would respond on Twitter to random customers (me included, a couple times). Seemed like a really great leader.
- joecool1029 6y ago
  Neville Ray is great too and is probably the C-level that's been there the longest. Unlike Sprint, T-Mobile has usually made fairly pragmatic technology choices and usually beats their build-out estimates (unheard of at any of the other majors). He's also nice on Twitter and I've had a few exchanges with him like asking if they were ready for the last leap second, and he once dispatched a COLT (cell on light truck) to support the network when we had a large festival some summers back after I asked.
neltnerb 6y ago
Yeah, they were amazing... ten years ago when I started using them. Now they block my wifi calling for no technological reason, opt me in to invasive monitoring, sell my information, force me to call them to change anything about my account because they broke their own previously working website to make being pepaid harder... getting really hard to justify sticking around.

skykooler 6y ago

> “We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting,” a T-Mobile spokeswoman told the paper. How many?

tablespoon 6y ago
All the people on the adtech team.
- marshmallow_12 6y ago
  There must be a whole civilization of ad-loving people, maybe they live on Mars, maybe on the dark side of the Moon. The only people aware of their existence are Google, FB and co. They inundate these companies requesting better and more targeted ads. "I'm paying for your services, i want creepier ads!" they complain. (Yes, FB has figured out they can charge them money)
neltnerb 6y ago
"We had a very scientific study where we asked people if they prefer to have to watch ads that are irrelevant to them, or which might possibly be relevant to them." (imagined quote from the marketing team meeting)
fumar 6y ago
They run surveys that ask questions like "do you prefer advertising that appeals to you? or "are you more likely to make a purchase based on relevant advertising?" People assume that the questions are asking broadly "do I want to see a car ad vs a diaper ad?" That is not the case – these are hyper targeted ads based on their usage patterns gathered from their digital devices. Often times, these surveys also include questions that lead users to respond with "I believe in value exchange between ads and the content I consume." Obviously marketers, ad tech, publishers, etc run with these studies as a panacea for the work they output.
yellowapple 6y ago
Two many.
6y ago

tracedddd 6y ago

Pathetic that this is even happening. Is there any trustworthy cell provider now? I’d switch over this but T-Mobile was the one least complicit in NSA spying.

mbreese 6y ago

Not that this makes it right, but AT&T does something similar. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Verizon did the same. But it is sad when your network provider just decides to sell everything they know about you and who you’re talking to. https://www.att.com/legal/terms.enhancedRelevantAdvertising.html https://www.att.com/legal/terms.enhancedRelevantAdvertising.... And even though they call it opt-in, everyone is automatic enrolled in a form of this unless they opt-out. > All customers are automatically in the basic Relevant Advertising program, but we still give you a choice. You can opt out of the Relevant Advertising program at www.att.com/cmpchoice.

ArchOversight 6y ago
> AT&T automatically enrolls wireless subscribers in a basic ad program that pools them into groups, and Verizon similarly pools subscriber data before sharing with advertisers, the Journal reported. The article even mentions exactly that...
yellowapple 6y ago
Yep. Even with this incident, T-Mobile is still most likely the least bad of the bunch. Which is depressing to think about. As I mentioned in a cousin comment, it seems like we're overdue for a cellular cooperative, much like how credit unions work. It's becoming increasingly apparent that traditional corporations can't be trusted to act in the best interests of their customers, especially when they exist as natural monopolies.

sneak 6y ago

Guess it's time to opt out of T-Mobile entirely. Bummer, switching is pure overhead. :/ These days I use a Fi data-only SIM in a battery-powered travel router that runs a VPN, and only ever use my mobile devices via Wi-Fi to that, anyway. I use throwaway gmail accounts with Google Voice for stuff that still insists on PSTN phone numbers. I kept my T-Mo SIM with my decade-old phone number (in a $19 dumbphone, no less!) but it might be time to abandon that now.

websites2323 6y ago
Which router do you use? I've been considering this solution for a while. It seems inconvenient, but I might get used to it to avoid this fuckery.
- sneak 6y ago
  GL.iNet GL-E750 I keep forgetting it's on in my bag when I come home, then it's dead when I go to leave the house again. Fortunately I have a USB outlet in my car; I don't keep SIM cards in any other devices now (other than my dumbphone for SMS).

nikisweeting 6y ago

Their privacy policy on iOS is also blatantly misleading. They claim to not collect any identity-linked location info, and also claim that your purchases are somehow not tied to your identity, both of which are demonstrably false. https://twitter.com/thesquashSH/status/1369089325040828421 https://twitter.com/thesquashSH/status/1369089325040828421

jbluepolarbear 6y ago

Opt out should be illegal. It’s never in the users favor.

Forbo 6y ago
There are some things that I wish were opt out, for instance organ donation.
- jbluepolarbear 6y ago
  I still think that needs to be opt in. I am an organ donor because I don’t care what happens to my body when I die, but I know a lot of people that do care and it should still be their decision.
  - BLKNSLVR 6y ago
    Not directed at you jbluepolarbear, asking questions to the void. It's an interesting philosophical topic. But is it your body once you're dead? Do you even get to care at that point? What literal difference does it make to you, after death? What are you going to do about it? I've been able to capture brief moments in which I've been able to grasp the completeness of the lack of agency that death brings. It's simultaneously chillingly horrifying and freeing.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
- hansel_der 6y ago
  once organ donation ist opt-out, it is very hard to deny the economical incentive to "not find the opt-out", withold treatment or prematurely declare death especially for patients of lower status/rank/credit. i don't think this is a path any scociety would want to go.

xyst 6y ago

t-mobile has been using this as their default option for some time now (more than a year?). I recall seeing a post on /r/tmobile talking about it - I'll see if I can dig it up EDIT: more than 2 years ago! https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/comments/ahio9n/tmobile_data_mining_by_default_opt_out_available/ https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/comments/ahio9n/tmobile_dat...

heroprotagonist 6y ago
I definitely opted out of this already. I even contacted their support about concerns over the way they sell location data upon opt-in (hint: their opt-in requirement for sharing your location was completely up to the location aggregator and the end customer buying location data to enforce. eg, not enforced at all). The main point I made was that this was not able to be opted out of via their preferences, and that having opted out of all possibilities, my cell number was still revealing location data when entered into one of those aggregation services. They had me snail mail a letter to a PO box. I never got a reply. Yet today _all_ of their privacy settings have been reset to opt-in status. And I still can't stop them from giving my location to anyone who tells their API "Yes, I have his permission".

marshmallow_12 6y ago

This would bother me a bit but 2 points: a)i'm not on t-mobile and b) they've already been hacked, your data is out there regardless.

Arainach 6y ago
At no point has "web and mobile app data" been listed as something accessed in any breach.
- marshmallow_12 6y ago
  yet

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

myrandomcomment 6y ago

So to turn this off log into your account in a browser. Account on the main bar > Profile and Settings > Privacy and Notifications > Advertising & Analytics > then click on each line and turn it off. reply

swiley 6y ago

Yikes I'd dump T-mobile if I had it... I wonder if I'm too late for puts.

missedthecue 6y ago
This will make them more competitive. On what world does it make sense to buy a highly levered, decaying, short term downside hedging instrument here.

jonpurdy 6y ago

This sort of thing drives me crazy. It's so pervasive that it's impossible for users to keep up with opting out of everything. All one can really do is treat corporations adversarially and assume the worst. It's crazy that I need to run a VPN from my home since my own ISP would use deep packet inspection (aside from logging DNS entries) to profile my household for advertising purposes. Recommendations: - Mullvad: they take cryptocurrency, account ID is a randomly generated number that can't be recovered, no logging, support Wireguard, reasonably fast, works well on mobile - Cloudflare WARP: centralized corp but they don't sell customer data and aren't incentivized to do so (disclaimer: for now), really damn fast since you're probably hitting Cloudflare sites from your ISP anyway, they use Wireguard (but in a custom setup), works really well on mobile

compiler-guy 6y ago

“We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting,” To the extent that anyone wants ads, of course they want more relevant ads. It's a truism. But that doesn't mean that they want to trade their privacy for such things. And this is T-mobile's duplicity.

exabrial 6y ago

Seems every company becoming a bunch of dicks lately.

yellowapple 6y ago
Because they're incentivized to maximize profit, even at the customers' expense. If only they were incentivized to cater to their customers exclusively, and if only the customers were the shareholders and therefore were able to hold the companies accountable for their behavior.
- asdff 6y ago
  If only the essential utilities the public relied upon were owned by the public.
willcipriano 6y ago
We are moving from a high trust to low trust society.

natas 6y ago

I tried to opt out, and it wouldn't let me to.

natas 6y ago
I've also tried to email their privacy team using the email address they have provided, as I couldn't opt out (it threw an error), and it bounced right away with a message indicating that they were not monitoring this email address.

natas 6y ago

comcast does too

ece 6y ago
Their opt-out is here: https://www.xfinity.com/privacy/opt-out https://www.xfinity.com/privacy/opt-out Somebody on Ars linked to opt-outs for AT&T/VZ/MVNOs here: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/t-mobile-will-tell-advertisers-how-you-use-the-web-starting-next-month/?comments=1&post=39728472#comment-39728472 https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/t-mobile-will-te...

psybient 6y ago

I saw this today and am unhappy with the news. I'm on a Pixel, but my wife is on an iPhone. We're both on Wi-Fi 90%+ of the time. Since I'm heavily invested in the Google ecosystem, potentially switching to Fi just looks better and better. I hear it even works on the iPhone with some limitations. We're not huge data users, so having truly unlimited data, while nice, is not really required.

techrat 6y ago
GoogleFi still uses the T-Mobile network. I suspect that without a way for MVNOs to have a way for their customers to log into the T-Mobile page to opt-out, the data sharing is still in effect. On MintSim, myself.
- psybient 6y ago
  You make a good point. I'm also wondering if T-Mobile allows Fi customers to be de-prioritized or is Google big enough that T-Mobile wouldn't dare. I'll look into MintSim. Thanks for the tip.
- varenc 6y ago
  I doubt this. Presumably if this was true Google Fi would have to provide at least some notice of this? Especially since T-Mobile had to update their privacy policy before rolling this out. Also Google Fi has no incentive to permit this. (Assuming they get a say)

totalZero 6y ago

“We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting,” a T-Mobile spokeswoman told the paper. Can a company be legally liable for this kind of lie?

psybient 6y ago
Sadly, probably not. They likely asked "hand-selected" people about ads and went with it, similar to products being "doctor recommended" when the manufacturer asked one doctor.
banana_giraffe 6y ago
"Do you want ads that are more relevant to you?" vs "Do you want unknown third party companies to track your online activity to provide you with ads they believe you'll engage with more often?" I swear there are entire industries that exist to obscure the elephant in the room.
BLKNSLVR 6y ago
Define "many". Get three people to say it, and they're probably legally covered. Hell, get Management to say that they prefer more relevant ads, with the sideline commentary being "because we can sell your data" and it's a paraphrasing, but it's not untrue. Experts recommend... Critics say... Customer survey results indicated... Give me the raw stats or it's bunkum.
- Springtime 6y ago
  They're what I've seen Wikipedia editors call 'weasel words' [1] when there's no definite source for a statistic yet someone is attempting to convey an air of authority. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_word https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_word

bassman9000 6y ago

I opted out 3 seconds after I got the email from them, and took the opportunity to also disable other marketing options that I hadn't noticed before.

cambalache 6y ago

A 500M-1billion fine. Those fuckers will only behave until one of those shenanigans can make them broke.

surround 6y ago

Wait, what? They have always been sharing data with advertisers. What, exactly, is the change?

breakfastduck 6y ago

"Fuck the ethics, most people won't even find out" - T-Mobile

BLKNSLVR 6y ago
You need to preface it with "Many T-Mobile Managers say"
asdff 6y ago
I'm sure the average consumer reads the OP headline and doesn't care at all. "Great! I love buying dropshipped crap from instagram ads!" they will say.

jariel 6y ago

This needs to be illegal.

kelnos 6y ago

> “We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting,” a T-Mobile spokeswoman told the paper. Am I in a bubble when I find that completely foreign to my experience or that of my social group? Do average customers actually answer on surveys that they would prefer more relevant ads? Or is T-Mo just flat-out lying through their teeth here?

ianlevesque 6y ago
Generally these surveys compare that to paying more to not have it (even though so far except for AT&T fiber I have yet to actually see a service charge more when you opt out).
gameman144 6y ago
I imagine these surveys just tend to omit the required consequences of each choice. E.g. asked "Do you want to pay less in tax or more in tax?", most people would likely answer "less", but if you outlined all the things they'd lose with lower taxes, a lot of those votes would flip. In this case, I imagine people said that they'd prefer more relevant ads (I know I do), but then T-Mobile used that as justification to do all sorts of other things that weren't asked about.

bogomipz 6y ago

It's amazing that coming off of the heals of their 4th customer data breach in 4 years in January[1], they have decided their priority should be selling their customer's data. It guess the Sprint merger put them over the edge and finally allowed them take their rightful place next the AT&T and Verizon in the toilet. [1] https://threatpost.com/t-mobile-another-data-breach/162703/ https://threatpost.com/t-mobile-another-data-breach/162703/

AlexCoventry 6y ago

I'd been procrastinating on running a VPN on my phone, and this got me moving. Thanks, T-Mobile.

hansel_der 6y ago
this is about the metadata (which cell your phone is connected to and when) not your traffic per se, so vpn wont help you at all

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

IG_Semmelweiss 6y ago

Question - I have a Droid LG V20 , think the device is from 2017. Never updated. Running 8.0 When I run the Tmobile app (wanted to peek at settings), its asking me to update. Should I do it ? Am i safe if i dont update this monster to suck my data ?

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

hysan 6y ago

So what can people reasonably do anymore? As others have mentioned, even when you do due diligence and turn off settings, companies are now flipping settings back. What recourse is left now?

oh_sigh 6y ago

Would using a VPN (like WARP) prevent T-mobile from collecting any information?

hansel_der 6y ago
no

BLKNSLVR 6y ago

Is it too late for governments to legislate against the sale of customer data? Legally make it opt-in rather than opt-out, as well as including provision for customers to request details of what data related to them has been sold to which companies. It feels as if it's too late because the economic base of companies that exist purely as leeches off collected and processed personal data is large enough that it could cause economic problems for the jurisdiction brave enough to attempt such legislation. ie. there's too much money already in the pot for the government to force players to fold their hands.

DamnInteresting 6y ago

I was a Sprint customer before the merger, and I received this notice via email a few days ago. It included links that were supposed to allow me opt out of my data to be sold, but none of the links worked with my Sprint login, so I seem to have no opt-out option. Blah. I was previously opted out of such things, and the merger appears to have opted me back in with no functional recourse.

varenc 6y ago

This is motivation to use encrypted DNS on your phone. Sniffing your DNS queries is a super simple way to build a detailed advertising profile of you and your browsing history. And DNS is unencrypted by default on almost all phones. By encrypting your queries, it becomes much more challenging for T-Mobile to determine exactly what services you’re using.

ece 6y ago
Tracker Control on Android allows changing DNS servers, but you could also use 1.1.1.1 from Cloudflare, Mozilla VPN and others.

stjohnswarts 6y ago

Thank you for sharing the article. I had no idea that garbage was turned on since I never download the t-mobile app. I did and there it was. Looks like I'd turned off anything else to minimize t-mobile spying. I'm happy with their service, at least in my area. I'm still holding on to my iphone X until 5g really makes sense. I haven't seen or heard any friends with it say OMG look at this. Phones are a utility I don't need ads on there as well.

cascom 6y ago

For what it’s worth I’ve reported their non functioning website/and changing my opt-out preferences to the fcc and my state attorney general, not expecting anything, but it was cathartic.