Adjust the following privacy settings (toggle off as desired), per line/account:
- Profiling and automated decisions (on by default)
- Fraud and identity theft protection (shares account and usage info)
- Sharing certain financial information (payment history, balances, etc.)
- Analytics and reporting, Advertising options, and Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
Verizon - Go to your MyVerizon
Navigate to Account > Account Settings > Privacy Settings on the web; or tap the gear icon and choose Manage privacy settings in the app.
Locate the following tracking options:
- Custom Experience
- Custom Experience Plus
- Business & Marketing Insights
- CPNI (Customer Proprietary Network Information) and Identity Verification programs
-For each, select "Don't Use" or toggle off to opt out
RajT88 · 1h ago
Just checked my T-Mobile privacy settings. I had most everything turned off, but then I saw a few were turned on (such as my opt-out marketing settings). Opting out of everything took 2 tries to have them all disabled (sludge).
This one was seemingly a new one, and makes the hairs on my neck go up:
Make your choice about profiling and automated decisions.
You can tell us not to use your personal data for certain kinds of "profiling" that we might do in the future. This toggle allows you to opt out of having profiling used for future decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you. We don't use profiling to make these kinds of decisions now. Turning this "OFF" or gray means "opt out of profiling and automated decisions."
pixl97 · 1h ago
For some reason I cannot turn off the "Alert the Gestapo if I remain too close to an abortion clinic for too long option" on my account, says not available for Texas accounts.
DrillShopper · 51m ago
You're going to have to wait until Texas voters collectively grow the ability to reason and a backbone before you can toggle that option off (yes, I know it's not all of them but the fact that Abbot and company aren't metaphorically tarred and feathered then run out of town on a rail for even suggesting redistricting right now is telling)
natas · 39m ago
Honestly, it's border line impossible for common mortals, I can't opt out from certain marketing initiatives because I don't have the marketing ID? (with no indication on how to retrieve it) I live in Washington, USA.
qingcharles · 52m ago
Any idea how this works for MVNOs?
Lammy · 1h ago
I did a cross-continent drive last month with my T-Mobile US phone and got a rude awakening of how real-time this is when the “source” area codes of all the spammy phone calls followed me from state to state.
e: I thought I had opted out of everything that was opt-out-able in TMo's privacy settings <https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/dashboard/controls> years ago when I first set up my line/account, but I just checked again and more than half of the settings were enabled. Hate that I have to be in the habit of looking for new settings that default to enabled.
pavel_lishin · 1h ago
Weird! 99% of my spam calls come from the same area code as my cellphone number.
Terr_ · 24m ago
I think they mean that some scammers target the area-codes you appear to be located near, as opposed to (just) the area code where you originally got your phone number.
ch33zer · 2h ago
Look forward to the supreme Court ruling that the FCC is illegal and actually owes carriers money for some reason
TimorousBestie · 2h ago
SCOTUS hates the DC Circuit almost as much as it hates the Ninth; this decision is dead on arrival.
You hear a lot of lies to the contrary that it has the highest number of reversals, which is misleadingly irrelevant because the Ninth also has by far the greatest number of decisions. It's like saying that New York City has more violent crimes than El Paso, which utterly ignores the population difference between the two.
No comments yet
SilverElfin · 2h ago
Is there any way to block this location data sharing? What about other carriers? I always think about denying apps access to this stuff but a carrier tracking me is insane and scary. The linked article makes it seem like ATT and Verizon also do this.
adrr · 1h ago
Carrier tracking isn't precise as GPS tracking via the phone. Its frequently a mile or more off. Banks were using it in lieu of a travel notice to see if the card swipe and phone were in the same city. Thats my experience with it. They moved away though and now try to ping the app(silent push) to get an IP or location data since buying location data from carriers is expensive.
Lammy · 1h ago
> Carrier tracking isn't precise as GPS tracking via the phone.
Not any more. 5G changes this now that the location spying is baked into the cell tech itself. The base stations are literally steering the beam to follow you in order to achieve such high bandwidth. See “5G NR Positioning Enhancements in 3GPP Release-18” (2024): https://arxiv.org/html/2401.17594v1
“New radio (NR) positioning in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 18 (Rel-18) enables 5G-advanced networks to achieve ultra-high accuracy positioning without dependence on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)”
“Release 18 (Rel-18) NR pushes the boundaries even further, unlocking the potential for applications in 5G-Advanced networks that demand ultra-high positioning accuracy – down to centimeter-level (cm-level)” (emphasis mine)
tantalor · 2h ago
Yeah it is quite easy, just take out your phone and follow these steps,
1. Go outside
2. Break the phone in half
3. Toss it in the nearest garbage can
4. Walk away
nullc · 50m ago
> 4. Walk away
Run. Half phone will burst into flames.
AtheistOfFail · 26m ago
Samsung. Remember we made an exploding phone?
echelon_musk · 1h ago
For a long time I've wanted something like Remote Desktop for my phone.
With the idea being that I use a second phone to connect to my main phone over the internet.
This lets the phone number you actually have associated with you stay in the same fixed geographical location.
E.g. all calls are initiated by the primary phone and tunnelled over the internet to the disposable phone.
Lammy · 1h ago
Get a Direct Inward Dialing (DID) number and a VoIP host that speaks SIP. Dunno about iOS, but Android has had native SIP support built in since Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
echelon_musk · 1h ago
That would work for calls, thanks.
But for apps like WhatsApp, Signal, SMS, iMessage etc. they would all need their own workarounds.
westmeal · 58m ago
Could use a VNC of sorts. Maybe a Miracast receiver that dumps the screen buffer to your own web service that just spits out the frames over UDP
lotsofpulp · 50m ago
How would this fool the network operator? Tmobile/ATT/Verizon will still know and be able to share your location.
echelon_musk · 19m ago
Don't register the SIM in your name that you use to connect with.
sugarpimpdorsey · 2h ago
Yes you could go full rms and not own one* and ask someone else to borrow theirs.
* does anyone know if this is still true?
RajT88 · 1h ago
Asking to borrow someone's phone is a common theft tactic. I wouldn't do it, for fear of someone thinking you're up to no good.
Burners / prepaid SIM's are still a thing.
lazide · 2h ago
Even better - randomly pickpocket someone else’s phone, use it once, then toss it /s
whatamidoingyo · 2h ago
You can purchase a Faraday cage for your phone. Or you can make one.
natas · 37m ago
all cars should have one
thfuran · 15m ago
They’re too busy spying themselves.
TimorousBestie · 2h ago
Probably not. The infrastructure has to know where your cell phone is in order to communicate with it.
Last I checked, the large carriers in the states hoard this information for years.
jacquesm · 1h ago
This is not quite true. They have to know roughly where your cell phone is but, helpfully, your cellphone starts the process as soon as you start it up and then it is a courtesy to you that the unit closest to you will handle your call(s) and other traffic because that will save you battery and reduces the amount of power your phone will use which in turn will allow others relatively nearby to use the same slice of the spectrum while you are transmitting. Phased arrays on the mast make this even more precise and further conserve power. But that really is a courtesy: it would all work without that luxury but less efficient and your phone's battery would be empty faster.
The part that really is optional is where the carrier then stores and even sells your location. They are mandated by law with respect to the first and they abuse the technical capabilities of the system for the second. And even if it isn't very precise for a single measurement it is in fact quite precise after you haven't moved for a while.
Spooky23 · 1h ago
They know alot. The data is used to estimate average speeds on roads with alot of throughput and can profile location between known sites. (Work/school/etc)
You can buy data about the incomes of people driving past a given intersection. That's why you'll see a Starbucks sometimes on a trunk road in a sketch area.
jacquesm · 29m ago
Yes, the aggregate value of this data is substantial. And of course nobody in the possession of something valuable, especially not a telco, ever thought 'am I acting in the interest of the data subjects by selling this data?'.
codedokode · 2h ago
Airplane mode.
xyst · 1h ago
What would it take to disrupt the oligopoly of limited carriers in the USA? I feel this type of behavior will continue with minimal repercussions. Maybe a slap on the wrist.
FCC, whether intentional or unintentional, through their controlled access to wireless spectrum has made it near impossible for smaller players to disrupt them.
I know "MVNOs" exist but they just resell the spectrum/network from the big 3 carriers in the USA.
tm0 · 28m ago
EchoStar/DISH-owned Boost Mobile is the fourth carrier, cleaved off of Sprint by Ajit Pai and co during the T-Mobile/Sprint merger process; DISH now claims it is able to provide coverage to 70% of the population in the US.
The problem is EchoStar/DISH are saddled with debt and Boost still uses its agreements with AT&T to throw at least some customers on AT&T coverage instead of its own.
thfuran · 13m ago
Infrastructure like this is pretty much the textbook example of natural monopoly. We just need to decouple the tower infrastructure from the consumer service providers. And, of course, have actual privacy protections.
Spooky23 · 59m ago
Now that the president has king-like powers, a different governing coalition as the MAGA breaks up or we have some sort of conflict that resets some of the politics.
The government can break up the phone companies into regional carriers. The market doesn't have the power to do anything, as the government controls the spectrum allocation.
jacquesm · 1h ago
A very large amount of capital, a substantial fraction of which you will be wasting on lobbying and financing the parties that managed to get spectrum allocated before you thought of this.
xyst · 1h ago
So next step is: breaking up the big 3, then.
If you have to lobby, then may as well attack them head on. Unfortunately, I think the current administration will _not_ help with this.
ATT - https://www.att.com/consent/ccpa/dnsatt
T-Mobile: https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center --Access the Privacy Dashboard
Adjust the following privacy settings (toggle off as desired), per line/account: - Profiling and automated decisions (on by default) - Fraud and identity theft protection (shares account and usage info) - Sharing certain financial information (payment history, balances, etc.) - Analytics and reporting, Advertising options, and Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
Verizon - Go to your MyVerizon Navigate to Account > Account Settings > Privacy Settings on the web; or tap the gear icon and choose Manage privacy settings in the app.
Locate the following tracking options: - Custom Experience - Custom Experience Plus - Business & Marketing Insights - CPNI (Customer Proprietary Network Information) and Identity Verification programs -For each, select "Don't Use" or toggle off to opt out
This one was seemingly a new one, and makes the hairs on my neck go up:
Make your choice about profiling and automated decisions.
You can tell us not to use your personal data for certain kinds of "profiling" that we might do in the future. This toggle allows you to opt out of having profiling used for future decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you. We don't use profiling to make these kinds of decisions now. Turning this "OFF" or gray means "opt out of profiling and automated decisions."
e: I thought I had opted out of everything that was opt-out-able in TMo's privacy settings <https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/dashboard/controls> years ago when I first set up my line/account, but I just checked again and more than half of the settings were enabled. Hate that I have to be in the habit of looking for new settings that default to enabled.
You hear a lot of lies to the contrary that it has the highest number of reversals, which is misleadingly irrelevant because the Ninth also has by far the greatest number of decisions. It's like saying that New York City has more violent crimes than El Paso, which utterly ignores the population difference between the two.
No comments yet
Not any more. 5G changes this now that the location spying is baked into the cell tech itself. The base stations are literally steering the beam to follow you in order to achieve such high bandwidth. See “5G NR Positioning Enhancements in 3GPP Release-18” (2024): https://arxiv.org/html/2401.17594v1
“New radio (NR) positioning in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 18 (Rel-18) enables 5G-advanced networks to achieve ultra-high accuracy positioning without dependence on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)”
“Release 18 (Rel-18) NR pushes the boundaries even further, unlocking the potential for applications in 5G-Advanced networks that demand ultra-high positioning accuracy – down to centimeter-level (cm-level)” (emphasis mine)
1. Go outside
2. Break the phone in half
3. Toss it in the nearest garbage can
4. Walk away
Run. Half phone will burst into flames.
With the idea being that I use a second phone to connect to my main phone over the internet.
This lets the phone number you actually have associated with you stay in the same fixed geographical location.
E.g. all calls are initiated by the primary phone and tunnelled over the internet to the disposable phone.
But for apps like WhatsApp, Signal, SMS, iMessage etc. they would all need their own workarounds.
* does anyone know if this is still true?
Burners / prepaid SIM's are still a thing.
Last I checked, the large carriers in the states hoard this information for years.
The part that really is optional is where the carrier then stores and even sells your location. They are mandated by law with respect to the first and they abuse the technical capabilities of the system for the second. And even if it isn't very precise for a single measurement it is in fact quite precise after you haven't moved for a while.
You can buy data about the incomes of people driving past a given intersection. That's why you'll see a Starbucks sometimes on a trunk road in a sketch area.
FCC, whether intentional or unintentional, through their controlled access to wireless spectrum has made it near impossible for smaller players to disrupt them.
I know "MVNOs" exist but they just resell the spectrum/network from the big 3 carriers in the USA.
The problem is EchoStar/DISH are saddled with debt and Boost still uses its agreements with AT&T to throw at least some customers on AT&T coverage instead of its own.
The government can break up the phone companies into regional carriers. The market doesn't have the power to do anything, as the government controls the spectrum allocation.
If you have to lobby, then may as well attack them head on. Unfortunately, I think the current administration will _not_ help with this.