Are you with Verizon? If, so, we wanted to let you know about a new “old” program that is collecting your browsing and app history.
Recently, Verizon has announced changes to its Verizon Selects program under the new name of Verizon Customer Experience Plus. This program collects information about the websites you visit and the apps you use on your mobile device to help them determine your interests. Although Verizon says they “make efforts” to avoid collecting sensitive browsing and location information, the phrase “makes efforts” suggests that those filters could fail at that task in some cases. Verizon, like most tech companies, says it doesn’t sell your information and that the program no longer endorses third party advertising. However, if you are at all concerned about your privacy, you should check your settings regardless of what Verizon says and how you set them originally. Some Verizon users say they’ve been opted out for half a decade and Verizon has now reset them. So even if you opted out of their “old” program, you may need to opt out (again) because they are automatically re-enrolling users.
To opt out:
- Go to your Verizon account privacy preferences page. Scroll down to “Manage Settings” for both Custom Experience and Custom Experience Plus.
- Select Manage Privacy Settings in the My Verizon mobile app or on its website and opt out of both versions of the Customer Experience Program.
- You can also delete any browsing and location data history that Verizon previously collected by clicking Reset.