News has come out recently that  the Big Red cellular carrier Verizon is selling off the personal data of it's subscribers. An extra slap in the face to users who arguably already pay some of the highest phone bills on average in the US.

"We're able to view just everything that they do," Bill Diggins, U.S. chief for the Verizon Wireless


News of this action by Verizon has brought up question as to whether Big Red is in violation of wiretap laws.
Verizon is able to monitor app usage, browsing activities, geological location, and more. Verizon recently began sharing this information with third-parties. This information also includes basics like; age, gender, and location along with specifics like if a user is a sport enthusiast or pet owner and what Android or iOS apps are being used in what area as well as your social networking accounts.

"And that's really where data is going today. Data is the new oil."

Most cellular subscribers, particularly smart phone users have probably at one point or another accepted that their carrier can see their information. That just goes hand in hand with operating on 'their' network. Although having it all laid out and finding that they can see every individual website you visit and every app that you download  and are sharing that information with third-parties is another thing?



Wiretap laws make this sort of thing illegal right? Well that is unless you offer those being tapped an opt-out. This is the legal loophole that lets Verizon and other companies do this.  I'm not a Verizon subscriber so I'm unaware at this time if customers were notified that they could opt-out or if they were notified about Verizon's "Precision Market Insights" to begin with. But for those wanting to OPT-OUT click the following link.  http://www.verizonwireless.com/myprivacy


It's worth noting that opting out only stops them from selling this information not from collecting it.  Are you bothered by Verizon having this information? Let us know in the comments.


[CNET]