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T-Mobile has started selling your app data to advertisers

 1 year ago
source link: https://www.androidpolice.com/t-mobile-has-started-selling-your-app-data-to-advertisers/
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T-Mobile has started selling your app data to advertisers

Published 5 hours ago

But you can opt-out in a few taps

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You can't spend long on the internet without seeing people fretting over how much data "big tech" has on us, but that's nothing compared to ISPs and mobile carriers. These companies see a lot more of your data, and they're not shy about monetizing it. T-Mobile has a history of taking liberties with your data, and it's not slowing down now that it has digested Sprint. T-Mobile has just officially launched its new ad platform, known as T-Mobile Advertising Solutions. That innocuous name hides a rather sketchy business model—it aggregates your mobile application usage and sells it to advertisers.

The specifics of the program will sound familiar to anyone who has followed the ebb and flow of browser tracking. T-Mobile uses network-level tools to track the apps that people use on their phones, and it then anonymizes and aggregates that data to lump you into various "personas," or "cohorts" as other platforms would call it. For example, if you regularly use Expensify and airline apps on your phone, T-Mobile could identify you as a business traveler for advertising purposes. This program has been in testing for the past year as "T-Mobile Marketing Solutions," according to The Verge, but it is now live with its new name.

T-Mobile says app usage is "the strongest indicator of consumer intent," and experts in the ad industry are bullish on T-Mobile's approach, even if it does come off as very creepy. Should every tap on your phone be tracked and monetized? I would hope not. There's also the issue of "anonymous" user data, which we've seen time and time again is never as anonymous as companies would like you to think. In many cases, it's possible to connect data to a specific individual. If there's a silver lining, it's that location data is not part of the program.

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2022-06-27 11_36_06-T-Mobile Advertising Solutions _ Your Data Partner

There is some good news (but less of it for Android fans). T-Mobile does not currently collect app data on iOS users, fearing it could run afoul of Apple's privacy rules. But we Android users are fair game, apparently. However, you can opt-out of T-Mobile's program using its official "Magenta Marketing Platform Choices" app. Alternatively, the Digital Advertising Alliance offers an app that lets you opt-out of numerous trackers, including T-Mobile Advertising Solutions, which is listed under its old name of T-Mobile Marketing Solutions.


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