Dan Gillmor is a guest blogger at BoingBoing.
If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer and care about your privacy, David Weinberger has news:
A small legalistic pamphlet from Verizon arrived today telling me that I have 45 days to opt out of “agreeing” to let Verizon share Customer Proprietary Network Information, i.e., “information created by virtue of your relationship with Verizon Wireless,” including “services purchased (including specific calls you make and receive,” billing info, technical info and location info. They promise to only share this with “affiliates, agents and parent companies.” It will definitely not be shared with “unrelated third parties” … unless, perhaps that third party pays Verizon to become an affiliate, whatever the heck “affiliate ” means.
There’s an opt-out, but it took him some doing to find it, including a call to customer service. And as he says, accurately, “The whole thing sucks.”
UPDATE: The BB Gadgets crew has detailed instructions on how to opt out.
Does any other wireless company have this kind of privacy-invading policy?