Verizon's Offer: Let Us Track You, Get Free Stuff 75
mpicpp points out a new program from Verizon that is perfect if you don't mind being tracked. Are you comfortable having your location and Web browsing tracked for marketing purposes? If so, Verizon's got a deal for you. The wireless giant announced a new program this week called 'Smart Rewards' that offers customers credit card-style perks like discounts for shopping, travel and dining. You accrue points through the program by doing things like signing onto the Verizon website, paying your bill online and participating in the company's trade-in program. Verizon emphasizes that the data it collects is anonymized before it's shared with third parties. The program is novel in that offers Verizon users some compensation for the collection of their data, which has become big business for telecom and tech companies. Some privacy advocates have pushed data-collecting companies to reward customers for their personal information in the interest of transparency.
So It's Come to This (Score:5, Funny)
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I really don't care if they track my device but give me free stuff. My hamster has nothing to hide.
Sure, that's fine until GPS is refined enough to determine if it is in fact an ass hamster... if so, then your advertising content is going to undergo a transformation. Also, PETA may call... The "ethical treatment of animals" ones, not the "eating tasty animals" ones... hamsters are not considered tasty... ass hamsters even less so... NOT saying yours is in fact an ass hamster... but is his phone on vibrate?
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They can keep their bullshit debit card, I want a blowjob from time to time if they want to track me. It seems that I have the merchandise, therefore I get to set the price and reject their offer. Tracking= 1 blowjob a week; firm, take it or leave it. No negotiation.
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Yeah, think so? This highlights the value of privacy and places an appropriate cost on it for me. If you want my details bad enough to meet the value of my privacy, you will give up some dignity, do a good job and swallow, once a week for as long as you sell MY details. No negotiation, this is final. Don't like it? Don't use my details.
Re:So It's Come to This (Score:5, Interesting)
Except it isn't Google's business plan. Google sells advertising targeting to ad companies. Verizon is selling your data to data mining companies. Google would never sell your data because it's their core business to be the keepers of that data so they can sell targeted ads. Not that Google is altruistic, just that they are themselves the data miners so they are not going to share.
Google offers free services to compensate. Services people tend to find pretty valuable such as Android, Gmail and Search.
Verizon is going to offer "discounts for shopping, travel and dining" read: coupons (ie more advertising).
Verizon is going to "anonymize" your data and sell it to anyone and everyone willing to pay.
I see the exchange of value in one business plan, and not the other.
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I see the exchange of value in one business plan, and not the other.
And there's another big difference. Google gives you services for free (which many people find useful) in exchange for exploiting your info. Verizon is going to give you discounts for third party services that will still cost money in exchange for exploiting your info while overcharging you money for using their services.
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Except it isn't Google's business plan. Google sells advertising targeting to ad companies. Verizon is selling your data to data mining companies. Google would never sell your data because it's their core business to be the keepers of that data so they can sell targeted ads. Not that Google is altruistic, just that they are themselves the data miners so they are not going to share.
Google offers free services to compensate. Services people tend to find pretty valuable such as Android, Gmail and Search.
Verizon is going to offer "discounts for shopping, travel and dining" read: coupons (ie more advertising). Verizon is going to "anonymize" your data and sell it to anyone and everyone willing to pay.
I see the exchange of value in one business plan, and not the other.
Verizon is offering more than just the points. Your asymmetrical FIOS connection gets upgraded to symmetrical based on your download speed if you sign up. My 150/65 got upgraded to 150/150 and speedtest.net shows it is actually hitting 152/164 consistently. I'll take it, especially considering they could probably have sold the data with no compensation.
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Except it isn't Google's business plan. Google sells advertising targeting to ad companies. Verizon is selling your data to data mining companies. Google would never sell your data because it's their core business to be the keepers of that data so they can sell targeted ads. Not that Google is altruistic, just that they are themselves the data miners so they are not going to share.
Google offers free services to compensate. Services people tend to find pretty valuable such as Android, Gmail and Search.
Verizon is going to offer "discounts for shopping, travel and dining" read: coupons (ie more advertising). Verizon is going to "anonymize" your data and sell it to anyone and everyone willing to pay.
I see the exchange of value in one business plan, and not the other.
Verizon is offering more than just the points. Your asymmetrical FIOS connection gets upgraded to symmetrical based on your download speed if you sign up. My 150/65 got upgraded to 150/150 and speedtest.net shows it is actually hitting 152/164 consistently. I'll take it, especially considering they could probably have sold the data with no compensation.
Yes, I took it, too. I read all through their terms-of-service fine print, too, and there is nothing there granting them any access to, or additional rights to use, any data or tracking information about me. That is, there was no change in privacy policy stuff for signing up for the Rewards+ program. So whatever data they are selling, they are not collecting / selling more of it than they were before.
I suspect that what they are selling is eyeballs to advertisers or merchants that want access to Verizon'
NSA and FBI and local cops already do (Score:1)
There are specific holes designed into all iPhones and iPads that show up in iOS allowing them to bypass any locking.
They're not "published" per se, but they're there and many suppliers of law enforcement software provide them, which work either over wireless or the data/power connection ports.
What warrants? They're already quartering troops in your pocket and purse.
I mention the iPhone and iPad angle, since more than 60 percent of all adult US citizens use those. You'd think Droids would be more popular, b
Nice that Verison informs people about it. (Score:2)
This way people will be much more aware of the kind of tracking possible (merging of locations from the phone ; with interestests from what websites you browser; with associates that you call).
I can see a new service coming up similar to a Taxi for your phone..... have someone drive your phone to where you're supposed to be, while you go to where you want to be. And perhaps they can loan you a loaner phone and forward the calls to it.
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Re:NSA and FBI and local cops already do (Score:5, Funny)
Wow, conspiracy nut..... whats next, the pin prick they give each child at birth for blood typing etc is actually inserting a miniature tracing beacon.
They start even sooner than that. Those sonograms expectant mothers get are actually hypnotoc coded instructions to the fetus that will turn them into jack booted thugs when they hear the keyword "Limbaugh" pronounced backwards. Then the Illuminati and Beyonce will implement the final portions of the new world order.
The clue is in the rainbows we can now see because of the essential fluid weakening chemicals and flourine they have been putting in our water.
Here is the incontrovertble proof. Stop those damn liberals NOW!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Wake UP America!!
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They start even sooner than that! They want to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids [youtube.com]!
I have a lady friend in charge of that.
Awesome Strangelove tie in!
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After what's come out about corporations having to feed the surveillance beast, anyone who opts in should be subjected to having their house and cars wiretapped in perpetuity by the NSA with a direct feed to the FBI as the price for their nonchalance toward surveillance.
This is already a service being provided to everyone, no need to opt-in. Plus, we only have to pay the subscription fee once a year on April 15.
So, like all other rewards programmes? (Score:4, Interesting)
In New Zealand we've got Flybuys.
For a retailer to be part of the programme, their POS system needs to send every item on your receipt to Flybuys. They don't just get "customer A spent $X at retailer Y". They get each product you bought, how much you paid for it, if it was on sale and what the payment method was.
It lets them do things like see the last time you bought a pregnancy test and a few months later, start putting specials for baby products in the next email you get sent by them on behalf of your local supermarket. Or if you buy a particular brand of razor, they might tell you about specials for blade refills.
In exchange for all that information, you get to spend reward points on selected products.
Re:So, like all other rewards programmes? (Score:5, Insightful)
Your dignity sold. What every ad man wants. Everyone has their price, and the price is frighteningly small.
Verizon already gets LBS, GPS, WiFi, and other info from most phones unless users go to fiendish depth with Snoopwall and other products to stanch the data flow. I'm wondering WHY they're asking for permission. Seems ludicrous to do so when everyone's already giving it up for free. Making it legit?
Legit like net neutrality? Legit like stonewalling their clientele? Doesn't make sense.
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They're collecting all that information, but they have to keep it under wraps. They have to get permission, like this, to be able to release (sell) all your vital information to 3rd parties.
The public and our representatives don't care about privacy, much. But after the free-for-all is on for a while, one case will break-through in the media... Something about a violent
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It lets them do things like see the last time you bought a pregnancy test and a few months later, start putting specials for baby products in the next email you get sent by them on behalf of your local supermarket.
Amateurs. [forbes.com]
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I heard about that
Except Target is only Target.
Flybuys is in one store in pretty much every market, from food, petrol, appliances, banking, insurance, DIY, ISP's, travel and accomodation.
Imagine what you could do with all that data...
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At least snail mail can serve as fuel for heating during the long winter nights.
Allow us to track you... (Score:2)
and get Free dumb.
Let me get this straight... (Score:5, Insightful)
Anonymised? Pull the other one.
Re:Let me get this straight... (Score:4, Funny)
They're offering me discounts on stuff I probably don't need
My daughter (aged 10 at the time) filled in a paper-based marketing survey on the promise that you would get rewarded with 1000 GBP (but I'll use $$) in vouchers. Seemed too good to be true, but they were true to their word! A thick wad of vouchers came. The vouchers were something like :
.. $100 off a new Rolls Royce
.. $100 off a new house
.. $50 off recarpeting my whole house
.. $50 off having a swimming pool installed
...$50 off a world cruise
.. $5 off some hotel in Singapore
.. $5 off at some restaurant in the North of Scotland
.. $1 off beauty treatment at some place in Northern Ireland
.. $1 off a life subscription to a church magazine
.. One penny off budgerigar food
.. and so on
I had the last laugh though. Everything my daughter put down was a joke, like saying (in my name) I kept weasels (some people do). I got free copies of a quarterly Weasel magazine for the next two years
Just rebate my bill you fuckheads. (Score:1)
I want money not your carney game bullshit. Money.
They were probably doing it anyay (Score:3)
(posting from my uber-low ID)
They were probably doing it anyway, and now want everyone to opt-in, so they can cover their arses before they got caught for tracking everyone without their consent.
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It's not illegal, except, maybe, in California, and not tested all the way up there, AFAIK.
It's sleazy, but Verizon is a US telecom provider, so that is almost (exception , anyone?) a given.
NetZero? (Score:3)
Charging extra if you don't drink the Kool-Aide (Score:4, Interesting)
Just saying...
Verizon customers are screwed (Score:2)
It's not like users will ever know what they are doing. It could be going on right now and no one would be the wiser. Maybe the are rolling this out now because they have been keeping (and possibly using) this data, and they figure that pretending that there is an option available will give t
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Yep. They are. They will be tracked. I will eventually be helping Verizon do this. I tried to be part of the solution to ending NSA / government surveillance, but I've come to understand that the people love their holy wars, violence, and most of all... their oil (even if they call it something else... all modern energy is derived from this, so broad category).
I'm not going to continue putting myself at risk for future generations that obviously don't give a shit about what freedom means. I will live
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I think you're missing the point. It's not that this gives them permission to track you, like you said that's probably already in your service contract. The point is that it gives explicit permission to sell that data to somebody else, thus legitimizing it and making it more valuable by decreasing legal and PR risk.
Voluntary choice (Score:1)
Pass (Score:2)
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Imagine a brave new world where you walk into a Whole Foods and the "VZWAds" app pops-up a coupon for $0.50 off a $4.99 gallon of "365" brand milk, $0.30 off some couscous, and $1 off the pre-made food bar (minimum $15 purchase) for lunch? You needed milk, have no idea how to cook couscous, and you were getting hungry for lunch--but $15 worth of pre-made food is a lot, even at Whole
Those of you whos mom or wife (Score:1)
Well, that sounds fair (Score:1)
Optional (Score:2)
At least it's still opt-in which is better than a site that states 'Use of this site implies acceptance of our policy' and your only choice is to use the site or not.
And before you reply 'Just don't use the site' that isn't always an option - i.e. sites that are needed to support one's work.
This is discrimination, per the dictionary. (Score:1)
sudo vi /etc/hosts (Score:2)
sudo vi /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 <tab> verizon.com
One day (Score:2)
One fine day, perhaps years from now, there'll be a screwup in the rewards program. We'll have a bunch of seals and sea lions getting great deals when they go shopping and a bunch of Verizon customers getting dead fish in the mail.
Why Not? (Score:1)
I'm a Verizon Wireless customer, and I'm probably going to sign up for this. Why? Because I very strongly suspect that, even if I choose to "opt out", they are still going to harvest the same data, or very close to the same type of data, and use it for marketing purposes. So now that they've graciously offered to provide me some financial incentive for it, I'm likely to eat it up. I will make a point not to go out of my way to do things I wouldn't normally do, or buy things I don't really need, but if a cou
Misleading Article (Score:2)
I went from 150/65 to 150/150 instantly. It tests on speedtest.net as 152/164. I'd say that's a pretty solid "payment" for joining. Better than I have ever seen from any other rewards program.
This is Slashdot (Score:1)