[Infowarrior] - VZ selling Customer Network Proprietary Information

[Richard Forno]

(originally heard of this via IP, but this is a more useful article
including info on how to opt-out)

Two of us just received a notice from Verizon Wireless about CPNI. CPNI
stands for Customer Proprietary Network Information: our call records,
essentially. What numbers we called, how often, how long we spent on the
phone, and how much it cost us. (It does not include our own names, numbers,
or addresses.)

Verizon wants to share this data with third parties, and of course they need
our permission: ³you have a right, and we have a duty, under federal and
state law, to protect the confidentiality of your CPNI.²

But that duty only goes so far: ³Unless you provide us [Verizon Wireless]
with notice that you wish to opt out within 30 days of receiving this
letter, we will assume that you give the Verizon Companies the right to
share your CPNI with the authorized companies as described above.²

Who are the authorized companies? ³Our affiliates, agents and parent
companies (including Vodafone) and their subsidiaries.²

That¹s a pretty broad list. Agents could include anyone that Verizon hires,
which becomes clear when you reach the bottom of page 8: ³we may include our
own or third-party advertising in the services you¹ve purchased from us, and
we may share information about you [information here includes CPNI] with
affiliates, vendors and third parties to Š deliver relevant advertising to
you while using the services. We may collect and transmit information
regarding your us of the services through applications or other software
present on your device. If you do not want us to collect, transmit or use
such information about you for the above purposes, you should not use the
services; by using the services, you expressly authorize us to use your
information for these purposes.²

I called 1-800-333-9956 and opted out of sharing CPNI. That last paragraph
seems to imply that I have to stop using my phone as well. It¹s not clear.

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http://skydeck.com/blog/mobilemarket/get-ready-for-more-advertising-on-your-
cell-phone/