AT&T is set to make a major change to its privacy policy this August, allowing the company to collect and sell your personal usage information to advertisers.
According to the new terms of the policy, AT&T will be able to commoditize your physical location, mobile web history and data regarding what apps you use. Your identity will be anonymized and grouped with other, similar customers when possible.
If you don’t want your personal data sold by AT&T – and really, who does? – you can opt out of the plan before it takes effect next month. To do so, you’ll need to visit the AT&T AdWorks website on each individual mobile device you own. You may also want to further opt out of AT&T’s external marketing and analytic reports to third parties.
The change to AT&T’s privacy policy actually puts it in line with the tech industry standard – Google, Facebook, and Verizon all collect data on you that they sell to third parties. Of course, you can opt out of these services as well. Check out Techlicious’s guide to opt out of Verizon’s intrusive tracking, the Comprehensive Guide to Facebook Privacy Settings, and these 5 must-check Google privacy settings to keep big data from getting rich off your mobile habits.
