Image via CrunchBaseVerizon has announced that it will be fitting an additional a peel-off sticker on the face of every mobile phone it has to sell from now onwards. The sticker will actually convey the warning to each user that the Verizon or even the mobile phone manufacturer might keep record of the user's location data. Additionally it will be mentioned on the sticker, that the users should be careful while installing any third-party applications, as they also have the permission to send the user location. So in order to avoid location information being shared with third parties, they should avoid installing unknown apps.
This step has not been taken in reply to the very recent controversies involving the location-tracking which have encompassed the giant mobile phone manufacturers like, Apple of iPhone and Google for Android phones. It was mentioned that it is a separate Verizon scheme which was under process from quite some time now. However, it was also found out that this idea was first suggested in the response from Verizon to the House Bipartisan Privacy Caucus, which had circulated a critical letter to four mobile companies just last month, after they had discovered that a German mobile operator actually practiced the to track users' locations.
Verizon also made the public announcement that it also keeps the personal data of the users, additional to the location details, and this archive can even be as long as of seven years for any customer. On the other hand, several other mobile carriers have also made respective announcement regarding their record of personal data. AT&T has claimed that it keeps record of the location data from minimum of a few days, to the maximum five years period. Meanwhile, Sprint claims that it has its user record for maximum five years and not more than that. Whereas T-Mobile gave an ambiguous statement, saying that it "retains personal information for only as long as we have a business need, or as applicable laws, regulations or government orders require."
Typically a cell phone users’ location or other information can be retrieved majorly by three parties only. First and most dangerous is the mobile carrier, who is able to track the user’s location and data through either the cell phone towers and/or GPS information both. Secondly, this practice can be observed by the cell phone manufacturer, who uses the GPS functions integrated into its mobile OS for tracking the users. Third and lastly, it could be any app makers (which are given the permission to send the user location information), this might just look like the part of their service but you never know that once the information is acquired, it might also be used for other purposes as well.
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