MONDAY,APRIL 25 , 2022 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ RE A
BYTATUMHUNTERWhenyou signedupfor your
mobileplan,yourcarriermay
have signedyouupfor an extra
program thatusesdataincluding
yourInternet historytotarget
you withads.
Ivisited my ownVerizon ac-
count settingsand foundthat
yep,Iwas enrolled in whatthe
company calls“CustomExperi-
ence.”Not onlydoIhaveno
memoryofsaying yes, Ihad no
ideawireless carrierswereinthe
business of peekinginonmy
activities andusing thatinfor-
mation to market to me. Andmy
blissful ignoranceworks in favor
of the company.
At Help Desk, we readprivacy
policies so youcansave time.
This week, Ron,acuriousreader
fromHouston,inspired us to
divedeeper into mobilecarriers.
Iread the privacypoliciesfrom
the three majorwirelesscarriers,
andmy eyeballs are onlybleed-
ing alittle. AT&T,Verizonand
T-Mobile have someless than
great privacypractices hiding in
plain sight.
Dependingonthe carrier,it
can draw on yourbrowsinghis-
tory, location data, call logs and
even app usetolearn things
about youand nudgeyou to
spendmore moneyonproducts
fromthemselves or third-party
companies.The good news is
thatyou canoptout whenever
youwant, andwe aregoingto
showyou how.Are there other
privacypolicies youwantusto
check? Sendthemourway at
[email protected].
Whatdatadotheywant?
AT&T hasa“Relevant Adver-
tising”program in whichcus-
tomers are automaticallyopted
in, andthe companydraws on
information including your
browsing historyand videos you
have watched to helpshowyou
targeted ads.If yousignupfor
“Enhanced Relevant Advertis-
ing,” your devicelocation and
call history are also fairgame.
Verizon has aprogramthat
works similarly.Customers ap-
peartobeautomaticallyopted
intoits “CustomExperience,”
which meansthe company can
useyourbrowsing historyand
data from your apps to help
target ads.Thecompany says it
“makes efforts” nottotarget you
based on anyadultsites you visit,
healthconditionsandsexual ori-
entation. Thanks, Verizon. If you
Notifications”then“Advertising
and Analytics,” then “Use My
Data To Make Ads More Relevant
To Me.” Turn the toggle off.
TwoofmyWashingtonPost
colleagues triedtoopt outon
T-Mobile accounts,and bothgot
an errormessage sayingit “looks
likewegot ourwires crossed.”
Whentheytriedvia thewebsite,
it froze or showed an error
message.
AT-Mobile spokeswomansaid
the companyhad not heardof
anyproblems but wasworking to
addressthe issue.Keep in mind
thatoptingout does not neces-
sarilystop carriers fromcollect-
ing your data or marketingtheir
own productstoyou.ShouldIbeworried?
Iwould recommendopting
out of all theseadprograms.It is
tough to determine exactlywhat
personalinformation thesecom-
paniesare sharingwithwhom,
and it is shadyfor the companies
to opt you in by default.
It willbetempting forany
company withasmuch data
access as acellcarrierto make
somemoney offyourinforma-
tion. What matters is thatcus-
tomers aregivencleardescrip-
tions of howour data is mone-
tized andthatcompaniesstop
optingusinbydefault.ASKHELPDESKsaidthe program doesnot in-
volve anythird-partytargeted
advertising,but shedeclined to
tell me whetherVerizonshares
inferences withoutsidecompa-
nies.
As always, it canbe hardto
knowfor surewhereyour infor-
mation endsup. T-Mobile ap-
pears to be the onlycarrier of the
three withapubliclistofits
third-partypartners.CanIchange mymind?
Youcan opt out of these ad
programsany time. AT&T cus-
tomers canopt out by signing
intoatt.com,navigating to the
“Consent Dashboard” and scroll-
ing to the sectioncalled“ControlHowWeUse Your Data.”Opt out
of “Relevant Advertising”and
check thatyou arenot signedup
for “EnhancedRelevantAdver-
tising.”
Verizon customers can optout
ofthe “Custom Experience”pro-
gram by goingtotheirprivacy
settings in the My Verizonapp.
Whileyouare there,you should
alsocheckthatyou have not said
yes to “Custom Experience Plus.”
T-Mobilesays customers can
opt out by openingthe app, going
to “Advertising and Analytics”
then“UseMyDataToMakeAds
More Relevant To Me.” Turn the
toggle offsothatitturnsgray. On
the website, go to “MyAccount”
then“Profile.” Click “Privacy andsaidyes to “Custom Experience
Plus”at anypoint, the company
can alsouse yourlocation data
and calllogs.
In comparison, T-Mobile
seems relativelytamewhenit
comestothisinformation. It says
it doesnot useany browsing,
preciselocation or callhistory
data for itsadprogram, but it can
use your“mobile app usage” and
data on videoviewing,according
to its website.WhatifInever optout?
Accordingtothe companies,
stayingenrolledinthesepro-
gramswill improve yourexperi-
enceby showing youmorerel-
evantads. If targeted ads spark
joy andyou are fine with your
cell carrier using your informa-tiontomakemoney, you can stop
readingnow and pour yourselfa
lemonade.
But theseprograms maylet
not justcellcarriersbut also
their third-partypartners ben-
efit from yourpersonal data.
T-Mobile states clearly in its
privacypolicythatitcan share
inferences based on yourdata
withthird parties. AT&T also
leaves roomin itspolicytoshare
yourinformation,but aspokes-
mantold me thecompanyisnot
doing it, thoughtheoretically it
can startany time.
Verizon says thatifyou choose
to stay in “Custom Experience,”
the companyuses data including
yourInternethistorytoput you
intointerestcategories like
“sports lover.” AspokeswomanMobile carriers can use your online history for adsPrivacypoliciesallowcellfirmstouseyourdata,butyoucanoptoutofsuchprogramsatanytime.ISTOCK/WASHINGTONPOSTILLUSTRATION
Your browsing recordsand locationdata areamong thetypes of personalinformationthatcan becomefodderfortargeted advertising.Thepresidencyofthe Barack
Obamamarked massiveshifts
for the technologyindustryand
its relationshipwith
Washington. Hisvictory during
the 2008campaign,dubbedthe
“Facebookelection,”took place
as optimismaboutSiliconValley
was surging.
Formuch of his twotermsin
the WhiteHouse, the ascentof
the technologygiantswent
largely unchallenged in
Washington, whereofficials,
includingObama,embracedthe
innovation unfoldingacrossthe
country. But the 2016 election at
the twilightof his tenureushered
in awaveofscandalsthatwould
turn thatcozy relationship
between the Bayand the Beltway
into aregularbrawl.
Now, Obamais launchinghis
mostconcerted efforttoshape
the responsefromWashington to
the thornychallengeof
counteringonline
disinformation and regulating
the socialmediacompaniesthat
balloonedunderhis watch.
Deliveringasweepingaddress
at StanfordUniversityon
Thursday, Obamalaid out his
visionfor counteringthe shifting
landscapearoundhowwe
communicate and consume
information,whichhe called
“one of the biggest reasons”for a
weakeningof democracy.
Theformerpresidentstressed
thatmisinformation and
politicaldivisionspredated
socialmediaand thattechnology
is not entirelyto blamefor rising
polarization,and far fromit, he
said.But Obamasharplypushed
backon the notionthatdigital
platformsare neutral actors.
“Theyare also the resultof
veryspecific choicesmadeby the
companiesthathavecometo
dominate the Internetgenerally
and socialmediaplatforms,in
particular,decisionsthat
intentionallyor not have made
democracymore vulnerable,”
Obamasaid.
Deliveringhis mostdetailed
addresson the topicsince
leavingoffice, Obamathrewhis
supportbehindan array of
conceptsfor regulating social
mediathathavebeen gaining
steamoverseasand,albeitmore
slowly,inWashington.
Echoingcallson CapitolHill,
Obamasaid“we needto consider
reforms”to the lawthatshields
digitalservicesfromlawsuitsfor
hosting and moderating user
content,knownas Section 230.
In oneofhis mostconcrete
suggestions,he saidlawmakers
shouldconsider“whether
platformsshouldbe requiredto
have ahigherstandardof care
whenit comesto advertising.”
Theidea buildson comments
Obamamadeduringarecent
interviewwiththe Atlantic,in
whichhe floated exemptingfrom
Section 230 protections
“advertisingthatis
microtargeting certain groups.”
BothDemocratsand
Republicanshave introduced
legislation to roll backthose
legalsafeguardsovercertain
types of paidcontent,includinga
bill sponsoredby Sen.Mark
Warner(D-Va.)targeting ads and
paidcontentmorebroadly,and
anotherone by Sen.Josh Hawley
(R-Mo.)targeting behavioral
advertising.Lawmakers have
also floated imposingadutyof
careon companies.
Obamaalso voicedsupportfor
mandating technologycompaniesto disclosemore
information abouttheirdigital
platforms,the algorithmsthat
drivethemand theirpublic
impact.
“Inademocracy, we can
rightlyexpectcompaniesto
subjectthe designof their
products and servicesto some
level of scrutiny,”hesaid. “At
minimum,theyshouldhave to
sharethatinformation with
researchersand regulators who
are charged withkeepingthe
restofussafe.”Heexplicitly
pluggedaproposalled by Sens.
ChristopherA. Coons(D-Del.)
and Rob Portman(R-Ohio)to
create sucharule.
Onelawmaker leadingefforts
to regulate socialmediasaidthe
remarksfromObamacould
generatemomentumfor
proposalsalreadyon the table.“I
thinkit can onlyhelp,”Rep. Tom
Malinowski(D-N.J.),who has
introducedabill to strip Section
230 protectionsfor companies
thatamplifycertain types of
content,told me.
He added, “I thinkhe is
pointingus to asolutionthat
involvestargeted reformof
Section 230,and that’swhereI’ve
longthoughtwe needto end up.”
MalinowskisaidObamarightly
has zeroedin on howdigital
platformsare designed,and how
thosechoicescan amplify
harmfulcontent.
That also shows howmuchthe
debate aroundsocialmediaand
Internetregulation has evolved
sinceObamafirstenteredthe
WhiteHouse, Malinowskisaid.
“Hewas presidentwhenthe
worldadoptedaradicallynew
modeof distributing
information,namelyalgorithmic
amplification,”hesaid. “It
started roughly15 yearsago,”he
said.Social media ballooned under Obama.
Can he help find the way to rein it in?
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