Ad Targeting and Wireless Phone Privacy

A mobile phone is an important tool of communication and is considered by many as a necessity in this day and age. However, most of us do not realize that our cell phones are also valuable for marketers.

A cellphone contains a wealth of information about the owner that are important for advertisers. It can give them an idea of your location as well as your preference for games or music. In fact, limited targeting based on users' age, gender, ZIP code and other characteristics is being done today. However, advertisers and marketers must first deal with privacy policies before they can gain more access to mobile phone users' personal information.

Major mobile phone carriers want to protect their customers' privacy because annoyed subscribers might defect to rivals if they did a sloppy job. of course, there is also the danger of contracts disputes or lawsuits that may come after any violation of privacy.

However, marketers may be able to target ads to a potential customer's location and actions through mobile phones. After all, the carriers can also benefit from the lucrative mobile phone advertisement business. Some researches also project that U.S. spending in mobile ads will grow more to nearly $4.8 billion in the next three or four years.

Furthermore, both technology companies and privacy advocates have also been making speculations about the availability of phones' location information to commercial services and advertisers. The Federal Communications Commission ruled in 1996 that wireless carriers must help 911 dispatchers identify a caller's location may pave a way for this development.

Many advertisers have also experimented with mobile ads in anticipation of a possible opening in this niche. it makes perfect business sense to take advantage of location information with the success of GPS devices and location services like maps and child tracking.

However, privacy red flags will be flown due to mobile phones' highly personal nature. Some marketing associations have started to develop guidelines on how to deal with the issue of consumer privacy. For instance, finding an ethical and legal way of getting a customer's permission and periodically reminding them of any tracking.

I think that all the sides of this mobile advertising equation will eventually come to a common ground. There will be problems and the possibility of disputes over privacy violations are inevitable but the potential of mobile advertising is just too hard to pass up. Cell phone carrier's, customers and advertisers will eventually reach an agreement and mobile advertising will flourish.

Wireless Phone Contracts and Privacy (Part Two)

This is the second part of my post about the privacy policy of major wireless phone service carriers.

In the first part I gave some information about the policies of Alltell, AT&T and Sprint Nextel on the issue of privacy. I also talked about the Customer Proprietary Network Information, or CPNI. This term refers to the information collected from you that is made available your carrier solely by virtue of their relationship with you. This information includes the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, and amount of your use of the telecommunications services you purchased.

Now let's proceed with the remaining major carriers that were not included in the previous post. Let's take a look at what T-Mobile has to say about their customer's privacy:

Wireless systems use radios to transmit communications over a complex network. We do not guarantee that your communications using the Service or Products will be private or secure, and we are not liable to you for any lack of privacy or security you may experience. You are responsible for taking precautions and providing security measures best suited for your situation and intended use of the Service. We may (but are not required to) monitor, intercept, and disclose your transmissions, location or communications and may disclose your billing, account, calling records, or other information, in good faith reliance on legal process, if required by law or to protect our rights, business, network or customers. We may locate you through our network. Your caller identification (such as your name and Number) even if unlisted may be displayed to others (for example, on the equipment or bill of the person receiving your call or any Internet site you visit.) We may list your name, address, and Number in a published directory with your consent. The way third parties handle and use your personal information is governed by their policies and we are not responsible for their policies, or their compliance with them.

T-Mobile is giving the customer the responsibility of taking precautions when using their device which is perfectly fair in my view. Being careful when using a mobile phone is always a good idea. They may also reveal gather information about you if the law requires it. However, they also stress that they have no control over how third parties may handle your personal information. You can visit www.t-mobile.com/privacy to get in depth info about their privacy policies.

Now let's proceed to US Cellular's policies on Privacy. The Customer Service Agreement of US Cellular states that they may, " release information about you or your account when required by a subpoena or other lawful process. We will not provide you with notice of such requests." I think that their statement is very clear.. unless you have some trouble with the law then you can be sure that your personal information is safe.

US Cellular also reassures their customers that the company is dedicated to providing superior customer satisfaction and is committed to protecting customer privacy. They will take this responsibility seriously as a key component to earning and maintaining their customers’ trust. US Cellular's associates adhere to a Code of Business Conduct that supports our commitment to protecting customer privacy. This is pretty reassuring piece of info. You can find the company's policies and practices pertaining to the use and protection of customer information at their website's Privacy policy page.

Now let's wrap this up by checking out Verizon Wireless' privacy policy. The company's Customer Agreement states that,

We may use and share information about you and how you use the services: (a) so we can provide our goods or services; (b) so others can provide goods or services to us, or to you on our behalf; (c) so we or our affiliates can communicate with you about goods or services that any of us offer (although you can call us any time if you don't want us to do this); (d) to protect ourselves; or (e) as required by law, legal process, or exigent circumstances. In addition, we may include our own or third-party advertising in the services you've purchased from us, and we may share information about you with affiliates, vendors and third parties to, in addition to the above reasons, deliver relevant advertising to you while using the services. We may collect and transmit information regarding your use 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.

Verizon may collect information about their users and reveal them to third parties for several reasons including requirement by law. They also stress that the customer may choose not to use the services if these conditions prove to be unfavorable or violate the user's privacy.

I hope that I provided some insights and information on the privacy policy of various wireless service providers. I think that it's always good to research and compare options to find the most appropriate choice. Hopefully, you can find a service that will give the best protection of your personal information or privacy.

Wireless Phone Contracts and Privacy (Part One)

Privacy is one of the most important issues that should be considered when you are considering signing a mobile phone contract. You have to know that you're carrier will be able to protect your privacy and ensure that your calls are safe.

Let us look at some wireless phone contracts and examine some the conditions that deal with the issue of privacy. However, I thinks that it's important to examine a privacy term that is used in some of these contracts. I found that the Customer Proprietary Network Information, or CPNI is a term that is being used in these agreements.

CPNI or Customer Proprietary Network Information refers to the information collected from you that is made available your carrier solely by virtue of their relationship with you. This information includes the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, and amount of your use of the telecommunications services you purchased.

Now that you have an idea about CPNI let's proceed to what the carriers say about it. Let us begin with Alltel's privacy policy. Their terms and conditions states that,

You authorize us to monitor and record communications to us regarding your account or the Services for purposes of quality assurance. We will not give you notice of any subpoenas or court orders related to your account or use of Services unless required by law. Information in our billing and customer care systems concerning your account and your use of Services belongs to us, and you have no expectation of privacy with respect to such information. You agree that we may release information we have about you when required to do so by law, to provide to third parties solely for the purpose of assisting us in providing any Service to you, or if we reasonably believe that an emergency involving immediate harm to a person or property requires disclosure. We may analyze your account and usage information and share this information with other Alltel entities to communicate with you regarding Equipment or Services that may become available to you. If you do not want us to provide your information to other Alltel entities for this purpose, please notify us.

If you are an Alltell subscriber, then you should remember that unless required by law, your carrier will not send you any information about any subpoenas or court orders related to your account or use of Services. Your carrier also gives you the option of resfusing them the right to analyze your account and usage information and share it with other Alltel entities to communicate with you regarding Equipment or Services.

Let us take a look at AT&T's take on consumer privacy. Now the thing with ATT is that they have merged with Cingular. They are currently updating their privacy policies as they continue to consolidate and re-brand the company from Cingular to AT&T. As of now, the Cingular privacy policy continues to apply to wireless services provided by AT&T. OK, now on to the policy. AT&T's privacy policy states that,

We will not sell or disclose your personal information to unaffiliated third parties without your consent except as otherwise provided in this Policy. We may use information about who you are, where and when you browse on the Web, where your wireless device is located, and how you use our network to provide you better service and enrich your user experience when you sign up or use any of our products or services.

This means that your consent is needed to allow AT&T to provide third parties with info about you. Now this is just a piece of their policy and I will not dwell on it too long because it is still under revision to cope with the Cingular merger. Tune in to AT&T if you want the latest on their privacy policy.

Let us move on to Sprint Nextel's stance on the issue of consumer privacy. According to their website, their company is

"committed to protecting the privacy of our customers. We only disclose customer information when necessary to comply with the law. We also have a variety of safeguards in place that protect against unauthorized access to our systems.

Your privacy is safe with this company except if the law requires information about you. You will also bebnfit from the safe guards that the company installed to preserve and protect your private and personal information. However, you have to remember thatCustomer Care contact information differs between customers served on Sprint systems and Nextel systems. You might want to check out Privacy at Sprint and Nextel to get more information about this topic.

I'm going to explore the privacy policies of other wireless service providers in my next post. I hoped I provided you with valuable info and links that will lead you to the data you seek.