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It is. They will collect your personal information, and make it available to their parent (Telefonica, via O2) and one of the other subsidiaries set up specific

by jrabone 14y ago

It is. They will collect your personal information, and make it available to their parent (Telefonica, via O2) and one of the other subsidiaries set up specifically to do this, and then re-sell it to the highest bidder. See http://www.fastcompany.com/3002010/telefonica-sell-customer-data-retailers http://www.fastcompany.com/3002010/telefonica-sell-customer-... for example. If you then subsequently leave them for another network, you will get more SMS spam than you can possibly imagine. http://zingongle.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/o2-selling-my-details-to-marketing-companies-result-spam/ http://zingongle.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/o2-selling-my-deta... for more details.

thedrbrian 14y ago
Interesting. Thankfully I signed up with one of my disposable gmail accounts. Another problem with giffgaff/O2 is that they compress and artefact every video or large picture one tries to send over their network. They claim its to save you money/bandwidth/data , which is funny as I'm on an unlimited account.
- jrabone 14y ago
  Note I said SMS spam (whereas the linked article talks about email as well). I assert that if you port your number out of a mobile provider owned by Telefonica SA, you'll find every PPI ambulance chaser in the country suddenly has that number regardless of your TPS preferences.
- DanBC2 14y ago
  All the mobile providers crunch images. T Mobile attempt it for all images. It's frustrating when HN page load is delayed because their stupid proxies are struggling to serve the tiny voting button gifs. I mentioned before the weirdly broken system they use for this too - 1.2.3.9; 1.2.3.11; etc are all annoying IPs to use. I too am on an "unlimited" account. Unlimited being the normal definition of "has limits" - they'll insert interstitial warnings about fair use limits and they'll stop flash working.
  - PJones 14y ago
    Interestingly, O2 seem to compress CSS as well. Had a client with a problem on a mobile site I just could not reproduce. Turns out it only happened when connected to O2s data network.
    - DanBC2 14y ago
      Awful. T Mobile insert <script src="http://1.2.3.8/bmi-int-js/bmi.js http://1.2.3.8/bmi-int-js/bmi.js language="javascript"></script> after the opening <html> on every page. Pretty lousy behaviour.
gambiting 14y ago
Well they are amazing though, so I see no reason at all to leave them. Simply nobody else in the UK offers a deal as good as theirs.
- Nursie 14y ago
  They're a no-tether operator aren't they? I don't often tether but I do like the ability to do it.
  - EliRivers 14y ago
    To quote amirmc: "Tethering is permitted on £10 goodybag and will work on all smartphones with an inbuilt tethering feature, except for the iPhone." [1]. Not sure what the deal is with iPhone (I'm on their £12 option). All the other plans expressly say "Tethering is not permitted ..." [1] http://giffgaff.com/goodybags/10pound-goodybag http://giffgaff.com/goodybags/10pound-goodybag
  - gambiting 14y ago
    You can tether even with their 12 pound unlimited package. I had to do it a few times, it was only for half an hour or so,but nothing happened. People on their forums are saying,that it's basically a rule of thumb - if it's occasional and you are not downloading hundreds of MB of data, it's going to be fine. But start using your phone to torrent stuff,and they will probably limit your speed or cut you off.
amirmc 14y ago
This is about O2 so it's not specific to GiffGaff, it happens to O2 customers who also pay much more for service than on GiffGaff. Hence it doesn't really address the "too good to be true" comment about GiffGaff in the GP.
- jrabone 14y ago
  It's actually about Telefonica SA and everything they own, downwards. They're all considered harmful in my book.
  - amirmc 14y ago
    Sure, and I was pointing out that this isn't relevant to GiffGaff's lower pricing. You were responding to a comment about GiffGaff being too good to be true but it's not 'cheap service in exchange for data-harvesting' as your previous comment could be read.

by jrabone 14y ago

thedrbrian 14y ago

Interesting. Thankfully I signed up with one of my disposable gmail accounts. Another problem with giffgaff/O2 is that they compress and artefact every video or large picture one tries to send over their network. They claim its to save you money/bandwidth/data , which is funny as I'm on an unlimited account.

jrabone 14y ago
Note I said SMS spam (whereas the linked article talks about email as well). I assert that if you port your number out of a mobile provider owned by Telefonica SA, you'll find every PPI ambulance chaser in the country suddenly has that number regardless of your TPS preferences.
DanBC2 14y ago
All the mobile providers crunch images. T Mobile attempt it for all images. It's frustrating when HN page load is delayed because their stupid proxies are struggling to serve the tiny voting button gifs. I mentioned before the weirdly broken system they use for this too - 1.2.3.9; 1.2.3.11; etc are all annoying IPs to use. I too am on an "unlimited" account. Unlimited being the normal definition of "has limits" - they'll insert interstitial warnings about fair use limits and they'll stop flash working.
- PJones 14y ago
  Interestingly, O2 seem to compress CSS as well. Had a client with a problem on a mobile site I just could not reproduce. Turns out it only happened when connected to O2s data network.
  - DanBC2 14y ago
    Awful. T Mobile insert <script src="http://1.2.3.8/bmi-int-js/bmi.js http://1.2.3.8/bmi-int-js/bmi.js language="javascript"></script> after the opening <html> on every page. Pretty lousy behaviour.

gambiting 14y ago

Well they are amazing though, so I see no reason at all to leave them. Simply nobody else in the UK offers a deal as good as theirs.

Nursie 14y ago
They're a no-tether operator aren't they? I don't often tether but I do like the ability to do it.
- EliRivers 14y ago
  To quote amirmc: "Tethering is permitted on £10 goodybag and will work on all smartphones with an inbuilt tethering feature, except for the iPhone." [1]. Not sure what the deal is with iPhone (I'm on their £12 option). All the other plans expressly say "Tethering is not permitted ..." [1] http://giffgaff.com/goodybags/10pound-goodybag http://giffgaff.com/goodybags/10pound-goodybag
- gambiting 14y ago
  You can tether even with their 12 pound unlimited package. I had to do it a few times, it was only for half an hour or so,but nothing happened. People on their forums are saying,that it's basically a rule of thumb - if it's occasional and you are not downloading hundreds of MB of data, it's going to be fine. But start using your phone to torrent stuff,and they will probably limit your speed or cut you off.

amirmc 14y ago

This is about O2 so it's not specific to GiffGaff, it happens to O2 customers who also pay much more for service than on GiffGaff. Hence it doesn't really address the "too good to be true" comment about GiffGaff in the GP.

jrabone 14y ago
It's actually about Telefonica SA and everything they own, downwards. They're all considered harmful in my book.
- amirmc 14y ago
  Sure, and I was pointing out that this isn't relevant to GiffGaff's lower pricing. You were responding to a comment about GiffGaff being too good to be true but it's not 'cheap service in exchange for data-harvesting' as your previous comment could be read.