AT&T Plans On Selling Usage Data To Advertisers… You Should Not Be Shocked By This

AT&T plans on selling usage data to advertisers including wireless and Wi-Fi locations, U-verse usage, website browsing habits, mobile app usage and “other information.” This was discovered via an update to their privacy policy. Predictably, the Internet exploded with rage. However, this rage is misguided. Google makes a ton of cash doing exactly the same thing. So does Facebook. While I’m not fans of them doing this, I’m not surprised that other companies are jumping on the bandwagon as this is a great way to make money. Besides, if people were truly upset about this, there was the opportunity to stop this when Google and Facebook when they were the trailblazers in this regard. I’m sorry to say that the train has already left the station. Now, AT&T users can always opt out of this. Though, it should have been structured to allow users to opt in. But I’ve been around long enough to know that will never happen.

If this truly upsets you, a e-mail or two to your local politician might be in order? Are there any other things that you can think of to get the point across that this isn’t cool? Share your wisdom by leaving a comment.

Leave a Reply

Discover more from The IT Nerd

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading