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Vodafone Plans Carrier-Level User Tracking For Targeted Ads (bleepingcomputer.com) 44

Posted by BeauHD from the difficult-to-circumvent dept.
Vodafone is piloting a new advertising ID system called TrustPid, which will work as a persistent user tracker at the mobile Internet Service Provider (ISP) level. Vodafone explains that TrustPiD will be generated through randomness, and its subscribers will have the option to manage their consent over accepting the tracking via the company's Privacy Portal. BleepingComputer reports: The new system is in test phase in Germany and is intended to be impossible to bypass from within the web browser settings or through cookie blocking or IP address masking. The mobile carrier plans to assign a fixed ID to each customer and associate all user activity with it. The ID will be based on a number of parameters, so that the system will be able to maintain persistence. Then, the mobile ISP creates a personal profile based on that ID and helps advertisers serve targeted ads to each customer without disclosing any identification details.

According to Vodafone, the problem that arises for its internet subscribers is that the "free" parts of the internet are threatened by stricter cookie blocking and privacy-boosting schemes. These new models threaten the targeted advertising industry, and according to Vodafone, the danger of this is losing content and platforms currently supported by ads. "Consumers appreciate the idea of a 'free' Internet, but this comes with a trade-off: publishers need a sustainable revenue model, meaning that it becomes essential to add subscription paywalls or rely on advertising to maintain free access to high-quality content," reads the explanation on the TrustPiD website, managed by Vodafone Sales and Services Limited.
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Vodafone Plans Carrier-Level User Tracking For Targeted Ads More

Vodafone Plans Carrier-Level User Tracking For Targeted Ads

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  • Vodafone is paid by its subscribers to provide connectivity, they did not sign up so that Vodafone could make extra money through advertising. All this guff about the free parts of the Internet is just complete bollocks to try to give a veneer of them doing good. I was a Vodafone customer many years ago and left because of how they treated me - I will not be going back.

    • You can bet there are clauses in the terms and conditions those paid customers agreed to that allows the sale of any data about them to anyone.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sconeu ( 64226 )

        I suspect the entities enforcing GDPR might have something to say about that.

        • Why? They'll simply state something along the lines in "we'll sell your privacy, and if you don't like it you can fuck off" in the contract. And yes, that's absolutely a-ok with the GDPR.

          The GDPR basically just says you have to tell your client that you're violating their privacy. It doesn't keep you from doing so.

          • The GDPR basically just says you have to tell your client that you're violating their privacy. It doesn't keep you from doing so.

            I believe you are wrong about that. All those websites that allow you to turn off tracking cookies? They don't do that out of altruism: they do it because that what the law requires. It doesn't give companies an option to not provide services if customers don't agree.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      And they said using a VPN is pointless... No, it stops my ISP from doing shit like this. All they get to see are some encrypted UDP packets.

  • GDPR (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 31, 2022 @06:00PM (#62581774)

    Isn't that exactly what GDPR was supposed to protect us from?

    • Selling your data to advertisers is quite likely a part of the agreement that you consented to when you signed it.

      Unfortunately it is, afaik, very difficult to find a phone/internet service provider that does not make you give such a consent in order to use their services.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by splutty ( 43475 )

        Giving consent to a company to break the law is.. Well, it won't hold up in court.

        Of course, that won't stop them from doing it, and just paying the fines as part of doing business. Unless those fines finally get to a point where it's "10% of gross income".

      • Which is illegal, under the GDPR. Will be interesting to see what their legal basis is, here...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      If they want to do this then GDPR requires them to get affirmative opt-in permission. It must not be coerced in any way - no pre-ticked boxes, no making the "fuck off" button harder to click than the "spam me" button. It has to be explicit and discrete too, with each usage agreed separately and with explanations in plain language. No burying it in a 10,000 page Terms of Service.

      Somehow I can't see many people agreeing to it. They surely know that, so presumably are planning to break the law somehow. Germans

  • VPN (Score:1)

    by rgmoore ( 133276 )

    Sounds like it's time for anyone who gets their service through Vodafone to start thinking about their VPN options. This is exactly the kind of snooping the VPN companies have been claiming they'll stop.

    • Unless they bake tracking into the ROMs of sold headsets.

    • Ah, but they will ban outside VPN on Vodofone. But for an extra fee, you can use their VodoFone VPN for security! But that VPN does share data with some providers, but for an extra fee on top of that, they will not share that data with their providers. But we do keep a list of people who did that opt out, however for another fee, you can be removed from that list... (credit to the story 'The Ingenious Patriot')

  • Even with timing analysis it will be very hard to recover much useful data from users using Apple private relay (VPN services really need to get off their ass and start offering something similar BTW).

    I don't like Apple, but it is what it is.

  • Android & iPhone... (Score:3)

    by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Tuesday May 31, 2022 @06:21PM (#62581850)
    ...do pretty much the same thing already. Sounds like Vodafone's late to the party. AFAIK, you can change your ad-tracker ID on Android but I'm sure they have ways of matching up your old ID with your new one. Surveillance capitalism will only stop when we criminalise it & start prosecuting.

    • Anything titled OPT-OUT or the equivalent is a fallacy and has been for decades. You don't need an aluminium hat to divine this.

      Any mainstream media will prove it wrong if you pay attention.

      What I don't understand is the staggering number of humans that happily subjugate themselves to monetized mass surveillance. Including, and especially, those that work for these companies that do the deeds.

      But wait, what about that old chestnut 'I'm not doing annything wrong, I have nothing to hide." ?

      Ask any innoce

    • Vodafone already track the mobile device IMEI/IMSI/MSISDN for customer billing purposes. Likely this is just a poorly obfuscated data feed to advertisers based on that information but also including their current public IP address for data matching. i.e.: changing the Android/iOS ad-tracker IDs won't have any effect because they're too far up the stack, but VPN connections will still defeat it because the client IP presented to origin web sites will be from the VPN endpoint.

    • Surveillance capitalism will only stop when we criminalise it & start jailing and confiscating property of the C-Suite.

      FTFY. If you want real change, you have to make those at the top pay the biggest price for their crime as often as they commit it.

  • Trust what? Trust that they are going to violate their subscriber's privacy

  • Targeted Advertising (Score:3)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Tuesday May 31, 2022 @11:12PM (#62582450)

    From TFS:

    These new models threaten the targeted advertising industry

    Good. It needs to die a quick but grisly death. On-line sales is best served by a pull model. When I need something, make it easily found by search. When I don't, shut the hell up. Targeted advertising does nothing but piss people off. And as a manufacturer, the last thing you want is to have your brand associated, even subconsciously, with negative sentiments.

    If free web sites lose targeted advertising as a revenue source, I guess they will have to develop a new business model. One which may necessarily leave the big ad firms going the way of the buggy whip manufacturers. That's OK with me.

    • Re:Targeted Advertising (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Wednesday June 01, 2022 @01:24AM (#62582608)

      Most of all, targeted advertising doesn't work. It comes too late.

      Let's say I need a new bed. What do I do? Go online and search for comfy beds, of course. I shop around, I make my choice, I order one, I will have it delivered.

      And no later than here, I get bombarded by ads about beds, futons, couches and other comfy places I could plant my ass on. But guess what? I have zero use for any of them. I already bought that bed. I'm not gonna buy another one for the next couple years.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        You can pick out specific examples, but it's mostly not too late. Many of those ads will be for bed accessories like mattresses, pillows, duvets and the like. Stuff you may well want if you just bought a new bed.

        It even works with stuff like cars. If you order a new car today it will probably take 6+ months to be delivered, due to the shortage of new vehicles. So they have six months to convince you to cancel and buy something different.

        Most people make a lot of recurring purchases. If they bought an energy

        • That again only works if you're not satisfied with the brand or service you already have. I have a favorite brand of energy drink, it's the el-cheapo store version of the store I usually go to. I like it. You can bombard me with all the ads you want for your Monster, Red Bull or whatever else you have, I'm happy with what I got, not interested.

          If I'm not satisfied with what I have currently, I will go look around for alternatives, and this is where an ad would actually serve a purpose. You could present you

  • I mind ads infested with malware, that play obnoxious levels of noise, that are heavily animated and game like, and pages that are so riddled with ads that you canâ(TM)t actually see the content. Without ad blocking tools, the web is nearly unusable.

  • I check my cell and ISP once a year, to opt out of the ad tracking. The ISP is sneaky though...the address is buried on the second page of a privacy notice that is designed not to be read, and the opt out link cannot be found on the company's website by search or otherwise...you need to keystroke it in from the tiny type privacy notice. I have one computer which isn't totally Shields UP !, and I enjoy seeing whatever product I've googled follow me around for a week....

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