{"id":8855,"date":"2016-03-07T21:46:38","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T01:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=8855"},"modified":"2016-03-07T21:46:38","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T01:46:38","slug":"verizons-supercookie-fcc-settlement-requires-opt-in-for-some-tracking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2016\/03\/07\/verizons-supercookie-fcc-settlement-requires-opt-in-for-some-tracking\/","title":{"rendered":"Verizon’s ‘Supercookie’ FCC settlement requires opt-in for some tracking"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jared Newman<\/a> | PCWorld<\/a><\/p>\n

Verizon Wireless is getting slapped with a fine and privacy requirements after inserting undeletable tracking cookies into users\u2019 browsing sessions.<\/p>\n

As part of a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission, Verizon will have to get users\u2019 permission to share these \u201csupercookies\u201d with third-party partners. However, users will still have to opt out of tracking by Verizon itself. Verizon will be notifying subscribers about the changes, and has also agreed to a $1.35 million fine.<\/p>\n

With tracking cookies, users are assigned a unique identifier that\u2019s tied to their web activity, building up anonymized profiles that advertisers can target. But unlike conventional tracking cookies, which users can erase or avoid by opening a private browsing session, supercookies or \u201cperma-cookies\u201d cannot easily be\u00a0deleted.<\/p>\n

Consumer groups such as Electronic Frontier Foundation started raising concerns about Verizon\u2019s supercookies in late 2014<\/a>, and lawmakers soon began calling on the FCC<\/a>to investigate. In March 2015, Verizon added a way for wireless subscribers to opt out of the tracking through its privacy settings page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Currently, Verizon is the only U.S. wireless provider that uses supercookies, though several other telcos around the world also track their users this way. AT&T had tested a similar program in the United States, but cancelled it in late 2014 as negative attention piled up.<\/p>\n

The FCC is chalking up the settlement to its Open Internet order, also known as its net neutrality rules<\/a>. Under these rules, wired and wireless service providers must be transparent about their network management and terms so users can make informed decisions. The FCC claims that Verizon violated those transparency requirements by failing to disclose its use of supercookies.<\/p>\n

Why this matters:<\/strong> The settlement is a partial victory for Verizon subscribers, but still requires them to take the final step of opting out to disable supercookies entirely. Given that Verizon now owns a\u00a0major ad network<\/a> through its acquisition of AOL<\/a>\u00a0last year, the company will likely do plenty of its own targeted advertising even for users who haven\u2019t opted into third-party tracking<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jared Newman | PCWorld Verizon Wireless is getting slapped with a fine and privacy requirements after inserting undeletable tracking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[849,1100,1151],"class_list":["post-8855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","category-technology","tag-privacy","tag-tracking-cookies","tag-verison-wireless"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-2iP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6892,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/11\/19\/att-kills-the-permacookie-stops-tracking-customers-internet-usage-for-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":8855,"position":0},"title":"AT&T kills the ‘permacookie,’ stops tracking customers’ Internet usage (for now)","author":"NCCT","date":"November 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In recent weeks, Verizon and AT&T have been caught up in a privacy firestorm over their use of so-called \u201cpermacookies,\u201d a method of tracking what their users do while browsing the Web with the intent of sharing that data with advertisers. 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