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PacBell Violating Your Privacy
PacBell is trying to trick you into giving your OK for them to start distributing information on your calling patterns; they'll be able to give it not just to all of their subsidaries, but also to any communications company they have reasonable equity in (10% equity is the magic number). For example, if they had an interest in Yahoo!, they'd be able to tell Yahoo! all about you.
If you throw out all the crap that they stuff into your phone bill every month, you missed your option to "opt-out" of this practice and PacBell is right now getting ready to sell info on whether you call phone sex lines or posh restaurants; on whether you seem to be home at 10am or 10pm.
Here's the story, including phone numbers and URLs that you can use to opt out:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/27/BU199268.DTL
Here's a follow-up from today, which is quite interesting for the fact that it details PacBell customer support reps being told to call the previous column "shady":
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/12/04/BU139983.DTL
"All we want is to educate consumers so they can make decisions for themselves," says John Britton, a rep for the company. I think he meant brainwash. Buy PacBell products. Discontinue your other long-distance, local, internet, and cable options. We know better than you.
If you throw out all the crap that they stuff into your phone bill every month, you missed your option to "opt-out" of this practice and PacBell is right now getting ready to sell info on whether you call phone sex lines or posh restaurants; on whether you seem to be home at 10am or 10pm.
Here's the story, including phone numbers and URLs that you can use to opt out:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/27/BU199268.DTL
Here's a follow-up from today, which is quite interesting for the fact that it details PacBell customer support reps being told to call the previous column "shady":
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/12/04/BU139983.DTL
"All we want is to educate consumers so they can make decisions for themselves," says John Britton, a rep for the company. I think he meant brainwash. Buy PacBell products. Discontinue your other long-distance, local, internet, and cable options. We know better than you.