Data Privacy: Your phone provider knows more about taking back control than you think

Data tracking into 2024 seems inevitable. Whether you have an iPhone or an Android phone, your carrier may collect a variety of data about how, where and when you use your phone.

This month, T-Mobile quietly began rolling out a new tracking method called “analytics and automated decision-making.” Reddit users and The Mobile Report discovered that the new option is enabled by default. While the company says it does not currently use the information collected from such tracking, it may be used later for “future decisions that have a legal or similarly significant impact on you.”

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But those who call themselves “non-aircraft carriers” are not alone. All three major U.S. wireless providers collect data, here’s what they collect and how to turn it off. It’s also worth noting that you should keep some of this in place, especially authentication.

While we’re focusing on the three major wireless carriers that make up the bulk of the U.S. wireless market, smaller providers and even home internet services may participate in similar collections. Going to your account’s profile or privacy page should help you understand what is being collected and how to adjust it.

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AT&T

As we mentioned above, T-Mobile isn’t the only company that collects data about how you use its service.You can check your AT&T privacy settings by logging into your account and visiting contour followed by Privacy Choices.

Carriers have four main privacy switches:

• Personalized Plus: This setting is “customized using data such as page views and precise location” and includes offers and ads. This data includes your precise location, page views, viewing history, applications and data AT&T collects from advertisers such as demographic information, zip code and age range. The carrier said the data “will not access or use your text messages, emails or calls.”
• personalise: This option “enables the use of your data for automated decision-making,” including the use of artificial intelligence to generate advertising and marketing that is more customized and “relevant to your interests.” It is turned on by default.
• Authentication: This “enables us to help non-AT&T companies perform identity verification and fraud prevention” such as banks to “help protect your account from fraud, verify your identity and ensure you authorize certain transactions.” AT&T said it doesn’t allow companies to use this verification “for any other purpose outside of these services.” This feature is enabled by default.
• Share or sell my personal information: This allows AT&T to “share limited information to create, serve and measure ads you may like,” including targeted ads. This feature is enabled by default.

Within these four settings, you can easily turn off all of them, but I recommend keeping authentication turned on for all lines on your account.

T move

T-Mobile has more privacy options.To visit the company Privacy Centerlog in to your T-Mobile account, and click my account in the upper right corner, then contour.From there scroll all the way to the bottom and select Privacy and Notices and Privacy Dashboard.

From there you will see the following:

• Share public and scientific research data: T-Mobile said this option allows it to “help support research initiatives in the public interest, such as pandemic response and the development of new technologies.” The airline, which was created last year, said the program was in response to requests from “external researchers or research institutions”. T-Mobile said the data will be “de-identified to the greatest extent possible before being shared” and will not include personal information such as names, although it can share location, demographic and usage data. It also said the data shared here will not be provided to law enforcement.
• Analysis and reporting: This takes data from your device, including app usage information (such as frequency of opening and postal code), and combines it with “self-declared data such as age range (e.g. 25 to 34 years old) and gender.” to prepare aggregated business and marketing reports,” which T-Mobile can then use and share with other companies. The airline said these reports are not personally identifiable. This feature is enabled by default.
• Advertising options: This is for personalized advertising, where the operator collects details about the apps you download and when you use them, combining this with other data collected such as your location and demographic data. As with similar options from other providers and sites, turning this option off won’t prevent you from seeing ads, but the operator says you’re “more likely to see ads about content you like” if you leave these options on. This feature is enabled by default.
• product development: This allows T-Mobile to use your personal data, including your precise location, the phone numbers you call, the apps and websites you use, and to help advertisers “better show you ads.”
• Analysis and automated decision-making: This is what appears to be the latest privacy option from T-Mobile that we mentioned above, and while the carrier says it’s not taking any action on it yet, it appears to be giving itself the option to do so in the future. On its website, it describes this as using the personal data it collects about you “to evaluate, analyze or make predictions about your work performance, financial situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or activities Some personal aspects of it are turned on by default.
• Do not sell or share my personal information: This allows you to tell T-Mobile not to sell or share the data it has about you with other companies. The company notes on its website that it may still share some personal information with our service providers so that you can receive products and services from us. In an annoying extra step, the carrier notes on its website that you can limit what data third-party advertisers share with T-Mobile through its Magenta advertising platform, but to opt out, you need to download a separate app program.

Of these options, I recommend turning them all off.

In addition to the dashboard, T-Mobile’s Privacy Center website details “phone privacy.” T-Mobile says it uses the information it collects here to “identify T-Mobile calling plan offers, prevent fraud and respond to emergencies,” but under this policy it does not collect “your name, address, phone number number or the contents of your call. It also said it would not share the data with other companies to “help them market their products.”

Verizon

Like T-Mobile, Verizon has many different options when it comes to privacy.This can be found by logging in, clicking on account Then Account information.choose from there Edit profile and settings and select Manage privacy settings.

From there you will see the following:

• Customer-specific network information: This allows Verizon to use the information it has about you to sell you additional services beyond those you have paid for. This feature is enabled by default.
• Business and Marketing Insights: This takes information about location, web browsing, “app/feature usage” and your demographics, which is then combined with information Verizon gets from other companies to help Verizon create “insights,” such as whether many people regularly Go to a specific place at a specific time. The airline said the information was collected “in the aggregate” to help it and “others better understand consumer behavior”. This feature is enabled by default.
• Customized experience: This requires information about “the websites you visit and the apps you use” to “help us better understand your interests”, such as whether you like sports or games. Verizon said it will not share or sell this information with others. It is turned on by default.
• Customized experience plus: This combines information collected from CPNI and the Customized Experience segment so that Verizon can “personalize” its marketing and recommendations for you and “create programs, services and offers that are more attractive to you.”This is an opt-in and the operator says it will not sell this data to other companies for use in their respective advertising, although opting in here will automatically enable Business and Marketing Insights.
• Authentication: This shares “certain account, device and profile data” with third parties to help “verify your identity and help protect you from identity theft and account takeover.” This feature is enabled by default.

There is still one Customized experience tab allows you to reset Customized experience and Customized experience plus option, doing so will cause Verizon to “stop using web browsing and location data it previously collected as part of the program.”

Of all the options on Verizon, I recommend turning off all but authentication. That should be maintained.