Verizon yields to pressure.

PositionPRIVACY - Verizon Wireless - Brief article

Verizon Wireless has succumbed to pressure regarding its use of a Unique Identifiable Header (UIDH) for tracking customers' web traffic. Although customers could opt out of having their information sold to third-party marketers, Verizon chd not offer an opt out of the UIDH until the end of January.

The wireless company started inserting UIDH into the web traffic of its retail customers (not corporate or government contacts) in 2012, reported the Washington Post. It was quickly dubbed the "supercookie" as privacy groups and others protested its use, stating the concern that other companies (and even governments) could use the supercookie to track an individual's online activities.

In November, AT&T abandoned its plans to implement a similar program. But Verizon brushed off the critics until a privacy researcher revealed that a third-party advertising tracker company was using the UIDH to bring back its own cookies, even if consumers had tried to remove...

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