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Verizon Up offers rewards in exchange for customers’ personal information

wsj.com

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Re: Verizon Up offers rewards in exchange for customers’ personal information

#31

Post by joezydeco »

chadgeidel wrote: post #12
ntsplnkv2 wrote: post #7

Is this not what all rewards programs are? How is this different from the local supermarket rewards card that I have, which "rewards" me with coupons targeted towards my purchasing habits? I'm not sure how to better inform people on these issues.

It's similar to other rewards programs but "Customers must give the carrier access to their web-browsing history, app usage and location data" is a lot more information about me than "what I've bought at in the past year".

Are you sure about that?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-targ...

"As [Target's] computers crawled through the data, he was able to identify about 25 products that, when analyzed together, allowed him to assign each shopper a “pregnancy prediction” score. More important, he could also estimate her due date to within a small window, so Target could send coupons timed to very specific stages of her pregnancy"

Read the entire article for a more horrifying anecdote.

Re: Verizon Up offers rewards in exchange for customers’ personal information

#33

Post by interstitial »

ArtCreator wrote: post #21

This is particularly messed up because you know poorer people will take this option so they can afford their next phone or device. It preys on lower-income individuals unaware of what is going on. People who generally aren't aware of what rights are being tossed out, or may not even have the luxury to put personal rights above cost.

You'd be surprised how much privacy poorer people give up in their jobs already. Most are watched all the time, with all manor of SV tech. Drug test, time clocks, GPS devices, and I'm sure SV is working hard to chip them, and do all sorts of other things to take away every ounce of privacy they have.

Re: Verizon Up offers rewards in exchange for customers’ personal information

#34

Post by guruparan18 »

dberhane wrote: post #23
__warlord__ wrote: post #11

It seems to me that this is he future we are heading, where privacy is only accessible for higher classes, it's a shame we are going in this direction just in the name of profit.

This is already happening with the free services we are getting from Google and Facebook.

And then they also do explicitly with: Google Opinion Rewards (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and...). The app does ask questions based on location, search terms, YT videos and others, that DO get pretty personal.

Re: Verizon Up offers rewards in exchange for customers’ personal information

#36

Post by aggie »

BearGoesChirp wrote: post #28
__warlord__ wrote: post #11

It seems to me that this is he future we are heading, where privacy is only accessible for higher classes, it's a shame we are going in this direction just in the name of profit.

It's how all rights work. Freedom of speech? You can yell all you want, but it will never be equal to a rich individual able to buy adds and have recorded messages played over the internet. 2nc Amendment? You ever see the prices to own certain guns? Voting? While there isn't a direct poll tax, you have to be able to afford the opportunity costs of the time spent to vote, as well as being able to afford access to the…

There's a difference between Rights and Entitlements. The Bill of Rights doesn't grant anything, it restricts what the government can take away (in theory).

Re: Verizon Up offers rewards in exchange for customers’ personal information

#37

Post by omginternets »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #13
__warlord__ wrote: post #11

It seems to me that this is he future we are heading, where privacy is only accessible for higher classes, it's a shame we are going in this direction just in the name of profit.

If we stop punishing companies when they have a bad quarter, this probably would not be happening.

The level of mental gymnastics required to argue that a lack of regulation would improve customer privacy is ... olympian.

Re: Verizon Up offers rewards in exchange for customers’ personal information

#38

Post by saluki »

joezydeco wrote: post #31
chadgeidel wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's similar to other rewards programs but "Customers must give the carrier access to their web-browsing history, app usage and location data" is a lot more information about me than "what I've bought at in the past year".

Are you sure about that? https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-targ... "As [Target's] computers crawled through the data, he was able to identify about 25 products that, when analyzed together, allowed him to assign each shopper a “pregnancy prediction” score. More important, he could also estimate her due date to within a small window, so Target could send coupons timed to very specific stages of h…

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/20/data-its-how-stor...

Target may have been too successful in this goal; as Duhigg writes, one teenage customer in Minneapolis was "outed" as being pregnant by a coupon mailer sent to her house. Her father was justifiably upset to see Target offering his underage daughter discounts on diapers and cribs, though he was perhaps more upset when he discovered Target knew more about his daughter's personal life than he did.

Re: Verizon Up offers rewards in exchange for customers’ personal information

#39

Post by flatline »

interstitial wrote: post #33
ArtCreator wrote: post #21

This is particularly messed up because you know poorer people will take this option so they can afford their next phone or device. It preys on lower-income individuals unaware of what is going on. People who generally aren't aware of what rights are being tossed out, or may not even have the luxury to put personal rights above cost.

You'd be surprised how much privacy poorer people give up in their jobs already. Most are watched all the time, with all manor of SV tech. Drug test, time clocks, GPS devices, and I'm sure SV is working hard to chip them, and do all sorts of other things to take away every ounce of privacy they have.

Time clocks and drug tests aren't exactly SV inventions. While there are many possible distopian outcomes to a lot of tech, suppression of the working class is hardly a new problem or the fault of SV.

Re: Verizon Up offers rewards in exchange for customers’ personal information

#40

Post by avaer »

ArtCreator wrote: post #21

This is particularly messed up because you know poorer people will take this option so they can afford their next phone or device. It preys on lower-income individuals unaware of what is going on. People who generally aren't aware of what rights are being tossed out, or may not even have the luxury to put personal rights above cost.

Isn't this the fundamental working of social media and advertising? Most people are not aware of, or can't afford to think about, the rights they're tossing out. So they're sold to bidders, creating billion dollar enterprises.

I think one of the most insidious concepts in the modern world is "free", when multiplied by the internet.

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