Why you may want to dump Verizon Wireless

[Brando]

Confirmed, X-UIDH on my Verizon android device. The problem is you cannot stop the tag from being transmitted - Verizon is injecting it into the data stream after your device.

F*ckers.

[tirwin]

Quote de Shaun 84 Targa

I just want to stop paying $115/month.

Cricket - $45/mo. with auto pay.

You're welcome.

.

BTW, thanks Richard (motion)

Cricket is AT&T.

[tirwin]

The difference here is traditionally you visit a site and a cookie is set. You can prevent that from happening.



With this the cookie (in the traditional sense) is not needed because the identifier is not set locally but is passed in your data stream.



When you hit a site it recognizes and reads the code, passes it off to the ad network who then pays Verizon for the info it needs to serve you an ad.



Verizon are actively injecting an identifier into your data request for the express purpose of selling you to the ad network.



It's not remotely the same as google since you pay Verizon to provide you access, your cell service is not free.

You can prevent it from happening too. There are instructions to opt-out in the fine print of your bill. If you can't find it in your bill you can call and ask to opt out.

[tirwin]

Quote de tirwin

I've got news for you... VZ isn't alone. Read the fine print on your bill.







And don't use any Google product.







If the service is "free", that means YOU are the product being sold.

Yep. Install a packet sniffer and some monitoring software like Little Snitch and watch where "your" web browsing actually goes. Google is the epitome of "big data". I quite deliberately block any and all traffic to their sites (although I do use Google Earth on occasion I have to admit).







Google, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Microsoft (and Apple) and Facebook are bigger threats to personal privacy / Internet anonymity than the NSA is.

You think that's bad. Look at the new protocols they are pushing in standards called SPDY and QUIC. If you are using a Chrome browser, all your traffic is being "proxies" via Google today. It renders the man-in-middle stuff by carriers useless because it encrypts everything and sends it to Google first.

[Neilk]

Per this Macrumors story, you can opt out of AT&T advertising by going to AT&T Adworks. Just make sure you have Wifi turned off.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Brando

Confirmed, X-UIDH on my Verizon android device. The problem is you cannot stop the tag from being transmitted - Verizon is injecting it into the data stream after your device.

F*ckers.

Try rooting and installing AdBlock

[TimT]

I just checked using my Nexus 5 using the Cricket (Att) network.

Its clean..

[Brando]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Try rooting and installing AdBlock

Doesn't work due to how they are injecting the ID in the data stream. It happens between them and the the destination site. Basically, your device doesn't send the ID, Verizon/AT&T does.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by tirwin

I've got news for you... VZ isn't alone. Read the fine print on your bill.

And don't use any Google product.

If the service is "free", that means YOU are the product being sold.

UGH.

SO. ******. WHAT?

So go use some other service. Or register your own domain name, and cheaply use the services of your domain host for e-mail and apps. Or setup your own server, and host your own mail. You only a 'prisoner' if you're too damn lazy to do it for yourself.

I LOVE the ads I get on Pelican Parts. Seriously. Because they track my cookies, they serve me up services and products that I'm actually interest me.

Explain to me how this is bad? The folks at Amazon know you have googled 'Richard Simmons Sweatin' to the oldies' or 'Plastic Surgery for Dummies'. So what? Basically every human on earth with internet access has looked at porn at some point, not even a topic of conversation anymore. So whats your beef?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Nobody's damn business what I look at plus I resent being continually viewed only as a source of revenue 24/7/365 by anyone and everyone.

If you paid money for a subscription of the Encyclopedia Britannica and when it showed up at your doorstep it came with a person who demanded to be let into your home to track and log everything you read out of it in order to take that information and sell it to marketers so they could route a bunch of junk mail to you based on your supposed preferences wouldn't you be annoyed / offended / bothered by that?

I would. I pay good money for Internet service and I get sick and tired of so much of the net trying to profile me simply so some scheister can hawk snake oil to me that I likely neither need nor want. I quite deliberately do everything possible to avoid and thwart profiling efforts. It's kind of fun to do and one can make a game of sorts out of it. I don't patronize stores that push dual pricing for "rewards programs" or "club" members (why should I be be forced to pay more just because I won't whore myself out for 50 cents off of a pack of razor blades or whatever?), I'm starting to use cash for purchases more and more (and I personally can't stand cash - filthy, inconvenient, etc.), I don't give real phone numbers, names or addresses when asked, I don't watch television (plus the content is junk in most cases anyway), I don't wear clothing with corporate logos on it (take a look sometime to see how many wear sports teams, car manufacturers, beverage companies, etc. - I'm not paying for the privilege of being someone else's billboard), etc.

I'll even go so far as to NOT buy a particular brand of product that pushes / promotes itself via marketing and advertising beyond what I'd consider a reasonable level. In general I think advertising has gotten way, way out of hand. I remember reading recently that by he time a baby turns two, he or she has already been exposed to something like 20,000 advertisements. This junk populates our landscape - billboards, junk mail flyers, endless commercials, you-name-it. All it does is reinforce the notion that a person is only as good as his or her ability to endlessly and mindlessly consume, consume, consume. No wonder we're a nation of fat, greedy, narcissistic and selfish rubes.

I have no problem with people making a product or service and seeking to promote it or sell it - it's just gotten way, way, way out of hand and far too ingrained in the so-called "culture" of our society. There's a time and a place to avail onesself of goods and services and that's called a marketplace. I don't need that marketplace trying to worm its way into every single aspect of my life just to extract money out of me. I resent it and I'm for one sick of it. My home is that - my home. I try to make it a place where I can spend time with family and friends and be away from the constant onslaught of advertising and the reinforcement of the message that a person is only as good as his much money he or she has available to be extracted from them.

The best and most important things in life are (still) free. It's a shame so many people seem to forget that. I certainly don't want to enable Big Data's efforts to convince people otherwise and reduce them to numbers that represent possible revenue streams for someone. We consume far too much crap as it is - I don't want people telling me I need to consume more - constantly - as part of a "service" (internet) that I pay for already.

Ahh, today's rant is now done. Now I've got the rest of the day to just enjoy.

[gprsh924]

Putting that kind of focus and energy into thinking about how/what you're buying sounds exhausting.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Brando

Doesn't work due to how they are injecting the ID in the data stream. It happens between them and the the destination site. Basically, your device doesn't send the ID, Verizon/AT&T does.

Correct

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Not really - I just pay attention to what's going on and try to not give anyone any more information than they need to conduct a simple transaction. You don't need my name, address, email address or CC number (that can be used to link me to that sale and sold for profiling purposes). You as a seller just need a cash payment and we each go our merry separate ways happier.

Beyond that, just opt out of everything, don't sign up for email lists or "rewards" (more like "track me") programs, turn off the idiot box, install ad / malware / tracking blocking programs and enjoy life. Oh and occasionally think about who's been most aggressively trying to get their hands into my wallet (other than government) through pushy marketing, seek out their competition and give them the business instead.

Why reward those sorts of tactics? At the end of the day if the numbers don't justify them, they'll eventually go away on their own.

[stomachmonkey]

I agree with POP, I expect free services like google and Facebook to try to monetize me.

But if I'm paying for the service then no, you don't get to monetize me twice.

However I don't mind the ads completely. You can use them to your benefit.

When I need something and don't have the time to invest in shopping for a good price every day I search it then monitor the ads the search triggers.

Missed a great deal on a 16 GB RAM upgrade for my main laptop. Pissed me off. So once a week did a search and within a few weeks a similar deal showed up. Had I not done the searches I would likely have missed the second deal.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

People see ads on Pelican? Where?

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Not really - I just pay attention to what's going on and try to not give anyone any more information than they need to conduct a simple transaction. You don't need my name, address, email address or CC number (that can be used to link me to that sale and sold for profiling purposes). You as a seller just need a cash payment and we each go our merry separate ways happier.

Beyond that, just opt out of everything, don't sign up for email lists or "rewards" (more like "track me") programs, turn off the idiot box, install ad / malware / tracking blocking programs and enjoy life. Oh and occasionally think about who's been most aggressively trying to get their hands into my wallet (other than government) through pushy marketing, seek out their competition and give them the business instead.

Why reward those sorts of tactics? At the end of the day if the numbers don't justify them, they'll eventually go away on their own.

Yup, I hate the phone number to check out thing and flat out refuse. I've left purchases at the register and walked out a couple of times.

Last time was Guitar Center. Needed to pick up a music stand for my daughter. $15.00 item and the sales douche insisted he could not complete the sale without the number. Even tried to tell me it was required for returns

Really, everywhere else on the planet all you need is a receipt.

He finally caved when I turned and started to walk out.

[oldschoollear]

Mine was tracked. turned on tunnellbear(VPN), no tracking.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by tirwin

Cricket is AT&T.

That is the problem, AT&T doesn't work in my office. I think I can get some sort of antenna though. At these prices, it would be worth it.

https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans

if I have an iPhone 5 via Verizon and my contract ends on 12/20, how can I get switched over to Cricket?