Data Privacy: Your Carrier Knows a Lot About You. Here’s How to Take Back Control | Global News Avenue

Tracking your data in 2025 seems inevitable. whether you use iPhone or Android phoneyour carrier may collect various data about how, where and when you use your phone.

Last year, T-Mobile quietly began rolling out a new tracking method called “Analytics and Automated Decisions.” Discovered by Reddit user and mobile reportthe new option is enabled by default. While the company says it does not currently use the information collected from such tracking, it may be used later for “future decisions that have a legal or similarly significant impact on you.”

Read more: The Best Cell Phone Plans of 2024

But the self-described “non-aircraft carriers” are not alone. All three major U.S. wireless providers collect data; here’s what they collect and how to turn it off. It’s also worth noting that you should keep some of this in place, especially authentication.

While we’re focusing on the three major wireless carriers that make up the bulk of the U.S. wireless market, smaller providers and even home internet services may be participating in similar collections. Going to your account’s profile or privacy page should help you understand what is being collected and how to adjust it.

We recommend checking regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes your carrier may have made or new collection methods they may have added.

Read more: How to adjust privacy settings on your streaming stick or smart TV

AT&T

As we mentioned above, T-Mobile isn’t the only company that collects data about how you use its services. You can check your AT&T privacy settings by logging into your account and visiting contour followed by Privacy Choices.

Carriers have four main privacy switches:

• Personalized Plus: This setting is “customized using data such as web browsing and precise location” and includes offers and ads. This data includes your precise location, page views, viewing history, applications and data AT&T collects from advertisers such as demographic information, zip code and age range. The carrier said the data “will not access or use the content of your text messages, emails or calls.”
• Personalization: This option “enables the use of your data for automated decision-making,” including using artificial intelligence to generate advertising and marketing that is more customized and “relevant to your interests.” It is turned on by default.
• Authentication: This “enables us to help non-AT&T companies perform identity verification and fraud prevention” such as banks to “help protect your account from fraud, verify your identity and ensure you authorize certain transactions.” AT&T said it doesn’t allow companies to use this verification “for any purpose other than these services.” This feature is enabled by default.
• Share or sell my personal information: This allows AT&T to “share limited information to create, serve and measure ads you may like,” including targeted ads. This feature is enabled by default.

Within these four settings, you can easily turn off all of them, but I recommend keeping authentication turned on for all lines on your account.

There’s also an “automated messaging” option that allows the carrier to “contact you via phone call or text message with important non-marketing information about your AT&T service, such as installation and repair appointments, billing and account information.” It is on by default and I recommend keeping it on as well.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile’s privacy options are more diverse. To visit the company Privacy Centerlog in to your T-Mobile account, and click my account in the upper right corner, then contour. From there scroll all the way to the bottom and select Privacy and Notices and Privacy Dashboard.

From there you will see the following:

• Share public and scientific research data: T-Mobile Say this option enabling it to “help support research initiatives in the public interest, such as pandemic response and the development of new technologies.” The airline, which was created last year, said the scheme was in response to requests from “external researchers or research institutions”. T-Mobile said the data will be “de-identified to the greatest extent possible before being shared” and will not include personal information such as names, although it can share location, demographic and usage data. It also said the data shared here will not be provided to law enforcement.
• Analysis and reporting: This takes data from your device, including app usage information (such as frequency of openings and postal code), and combines it with “self-declared data such as age range (e.g. 25 to 34 years old) and gender,” to prepare aggregated business and marketing reports,” which T-Mobile can then use and share with other companies. Carriers say these reports Does not identify individuals. This feature is enabled by default.
• Advertising options: this for personalized advertisingthe operator collects details about the apps you download and when you use them, and combines this with other data it collects, such as your location and demographic data. As with similar options from other providers and websites, turning this option off won’t prevent you from seeing ads, but the operator says you’re “more likely to see ads about the content you like” if you leave the options on. This feature is enabled by default.
• Product development: This allows T-Mobile to use your personal data, including your precise location, the phone numbers you call, the apps and websites you use, and to help advertisers “better show you ads.”
• Analysis and automated decision-making: This is T-Mobile’s seemingly latest privacy option that we mentioned above, and while the carrier says it’s not taking any action on it yet, it appears to be giving itself the option to do so in the future. On its website, it describes this as using the personal data it collects about you “to evaluate, analyze or make predictions about your work performance, financial situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or activities Some personal aspects of it.” It is turned on by default.
• Do not sell or share my personal information: This allows you to tell T-Mobile not to sell or share the data it has about you to other companies. this Notes on company website It may still share “some personal information with our service providers, for example, so that you may receive products and services from us.” The annoying extra step is that the carrier notes on its website that you can restrict third parties What data advertisers share with T-Mobile through its Magenta advertising platform, but To opt out, you will need to download a separate app.

Of these options, I recommend turning them all off.

In addition to the dashboard, T-Mobile’s Privacy Center website Detailed coverage of so-called “phone privacy.” T-Mobile says it uses the information it collects here to “identify T-Mobile calling plan offers, prevent fraud and respond to emergencies,” but under this policy it does not collect “your name, address, phone number or content”. your phone number. It also said it would not share the data with other companies to “help them market their products.”

Verizon

Like T-Mobile, Verizon has many different options when it comes to privacy. This can be found by logging in, clicking account Then Account overview. choose from there Edit profile and settings and select Manage privacy settings.

From there you will see the following:

• Customer-specific network information: This allows Verizon to use the information it holds about you to sell you additional services beyond those you have paid for. This feature is enabled by default.
• Business and Marketing Insights: This takes information about location, web browsing, “app/feature usage” and your demographics, which is then combined with information Verizon gets from other companies to help Verizon create “insights” such as whether many people regularly Go to a specific place at a specific time. The airline said the information was collected “in the aggregate” to help it and “others better understand consumer behaviour”. This feature is enabled by default.
• Customized experience: This requires information about “the websites you visit and the apps you use” to “help us better understand your interests”, such as whether you like sports or games. Verizon says it won’t share or sell the information with others. It is turned on by default.
• Customized experience plus: This combines information collected from CPNI and the Customized Experience segment so that Verizon can “personalize” its marketing and recommendations for you and “create programs, services and offers that are more attractive to you.” This is an opt-in and the operator says it will not sell this data to other companies for use in their respective advertising, although opting in here will automatically enable Business and Marketing Insights.
• Authentication: This shares “certain account, device and profile data” with third parties to help “verify your identity and help protect you from identity theft and account takeover.” This feature is enabled by default.

There is another Customized experience tab allows you to reset Customized experience and Customized experience plus option, doing so will allow Verizon to “stop using web browsing and location data it previously collected as part of the program.”

Of all the options on Verizon, I recommend turning off all but authentication. That should continue.