Verizon Wireless Followup

I got this from the Verizon Wireless public relations department:

VERIZON WIRELESS STATEMENT ON CUSTOMER PROPRIETARY NETWORK INFORMATION (CPNI)

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless issued the following statement today regarding the use of Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI):

“Verizon Wireless is taking another step to deliver the best service to its customers while providing the maximum protection for customer privacy. Verizon Wireless is currently sending its customers a notice that customer information will be shared within the Verizon family of companies to facilitate the offering of better service packages to consumers. Customers are given the option to forego the sharing of information among the Verizon companies.

“Specifically, the notice sent to customers is an advance notice that Verizon Wireless may share basic customer information with our parent companies. This notice, following rules set forth by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), gives customers who do not want that information shared with our telecommunications affiliates the option of telling us by ‘opting out.’ The FCC has rules which state specifically that opt-out is the way to share information and provide certain required language, which we followed.

“Verizon Wireless has a long-standing policy of guarding personal customer information. We have put this process in place so that we can ensure our customers’ privacy needs and expectations are met – even within the Verizon family of companies. We will continue to vigorously defend the privacy rights of our customers.”

For more information, visit Verizon’s Technology and Telecommunications Policy Blog at http://policyblog.verizon.com.

Hmmm...

They only intend to share my data with other Verizon companies. Funny, I don't remember reading any such language in that document outlining the program. And what is to keep those "partners" from selling it once they have it? It is still a bad idea because it opens the door the door for future releases of information.

In defense of Verizon Wireless, they did acknowledge my request for more information.

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Privacy under what circumstance? Privacy at home under what circumstances? You have more privacy if everyone's illiterate, but you wouldn't really call that privacy. That's ignorance.
- Bruce Sterling

Verizon Wireless wants to sell your call records

Romulis, MI - An article in today's Slashdot pissed me off beyond belief. According to the article Verizon Wireless is making to sell your call detail records to their partners. These details will include date, time, length of call and calling or called phone number. A notice (Sideways PDF) was included in recently mailed statements.

Fortunately for us, someone working at Skydeck actually read the notice and posted it on their blog.

Two of us just received a notice from Verizon Wireless about CPNI. CPNI stands for Customer Proprietary Network Information: our call records, essentially. What numbers we called, how often, how long we spent on the phone, and how much it cost us. (It does not include our own names, numbers, or addresses.)

Verizon wants to share this data with third parties, and of course they need our permission: “you have a right, and we have a duty, under federal and state law, to protect the confidentiality of your CPNI.”

But that duty only goes so far: “Unless you provide us [Verizon Wireless] with notice that you wish to opt out within 30 days of receiving this letter, we will assume that you give the Verizon Companies the right to share your CPNI with the authorized companies as described above.”
Skydeck: Get Ready For More Advertising On Your Cell Phone

The fact that Verizon Wireless customers must take action to keep these assholes from selling their personal information is an obscene abuse of customer good will in my book. If you are a Verizon Wireless customer and object to having your call detail records sold here's what you do:

Call 1-800-333-9956 and follow automated attendant instructions. You will need your billing zip code and account password (if you use one).

Verizon Wireless just went from the best to somewhere near the worse in my book.

The eternal skeptic in me wondered if this was an elaborate scam designed to to pry my account information and password from me. Sadly, after calling Verizon Wireless customer service, I found it is all too true.

Those bastards!

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This has been a learning experience for me. I also thought that privacy was something we were granted in the Constitution. I have learned from this when in fact the word privacy does not appear in the Constitution.
- Bill Maher