Dive Brief:
- Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the results of its investigation into Verizon's tracking its customers, slapping the telecom giant with a $1.35 million fine.
- Verizon began tracking its phone customers with what has been called a "supercookie" in December 2012, but did not disclose that tracking or give its users an opt-out option until March 2015.
- As part of the settlement Verizon must obtain an explicit opt-in from customers to share tracking data with third parties, but for data-collection and use within Verizon the FCC determined it could track users by default -- as long as consumers had an opt-out option.
Dive Insight:
"Consumers care about privacy and should have a say in how their personal information is used, especially when it comes to who knows what they're doing online," FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc said in a statement.
Late last summer Verizon notified its partners that it would begin keeping all of its user data, such as interest and location data, for itself and would be creating an internal advertising platform designed to compete with Facebook and Google. Not long after, the telecom company announced it would be sharing its supercookie data with its new acquisition, AOL.
Responding to the FCC ruling, Richard Young, a spokesman for Verizon, told CNET, "Verizon gives customers choices about how we use their data. We work hard to provide customers with clear, complete information to help them make decisions about our services."
