Verizon Wireless is proud of its new “business intelligence” initiative that will collect your browsing habits and online behavior, aggregate it with other customers similar to you, and then package and sell it to anyone willing to pay.

For your convenience, Verizon has automatically opted you in to their Precision initiative, and it is up to you to make the effort to opt out.

“Companies are always seeking opportunities to understand and act on their customers’ preferences, and Verizon is in a unique position to offer information and insight in a format that can help,” said Colson Hillier, vice president, Precision Market Insights, Verizon Wireless.  “At the same time, protecting customer data and safeguarding privacy have always been high priorities at Verizon, and we give our customers choice and control over their privacy preferences.”

The first set of services from Precision will help brands and companies such as outdoor media companies, sport venues, and other marketers, to understand the characteristics of the audiences for their products and services so that they can better reach and serve those customers.  Business and marketing insights use information from Verizon’s mobile network that is gathered and combined with demographic data, then aggregated to provide real insights into consumer behavior.  Data associated with the preparation of business and marketing reports is anonymous and secure and will not allow the identification of an individual.

Precision plans to introduce additional services including one that will help brands tailor the type of advertising customers see on their mobile phones, also known as relevant mobile advertising, and others that will help marketers create opportunities to better address their consumers and their consumers’ needs.

Still, Verizon’s lucrative new program delivers all of the benefits to themselves, while sticking you with an ever-increasing mobile phone bill. If Verizon Wireless wants to collect your browsing data and other “aggregated” information to sell to advertisers, then the company ought to be paying customers to participate. As usual, they keep all of the money for themselves.

Verizon Wireless obfuscates this privacy invasion with technobabble. They call it: Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI), ironic for a program that sells “precision” information to Verizon’s clients. In fact, Verizon tracks your location, collects ongoing statistics that can be used to predict where you will be at any given time, and offers that information up to mobile advertisers. They in turn deliver you “relevant advertising,” that eats your limited data allowance. It represents a win-win for the company and advertisers. Sell your data and then collect even more revenue as advertisers pelt you with unwanted ads.

But customers do not have to be the losers. You can deny Verizon their latest Money Party until they share some of the proceeds with you:

1. Login to your account at Verizon Wireless.
2. Scroll to “I want to…” and find “profile.”
3. Choose “Manage privacy settings.”
4. Note the section: “Customer Proprietary Network Information”.
5. Choose “Don’t Share My CPNI” for each relevant cellular number.
6. Make sure to click the “Save Changes” button when finished or your choices will not be saved.

You may want to also block Verizon from cashing in on your data for their Business and Marketing Reports and Relevant Mobile Advertising. Those settings appear just below the CPNI section. Make sure you “Save Changes” for each section.

Not a Verizon Wireless customer? Look out. Your carrier may be packaging and reselling your browsing habits as well.

• Sprint: Collects and markets subscriber data. Login to your Sprint account and select “My Choices” to opt out or call 1-855-596-2397 from each of your mobile devices.
• AT&T: Collects and markets subscriber data. Visit AT&T’s privacy options after logging into your account and opt out as needed.
• T-Mobile: Legalese overload. Would the average customer understand this: “We may obtain your consent in several ways, such as in writing; online, through ‘click-through’ agreements; orally, including through interactive voice response; or when your consent is part of this policy or the terms and conditions pursuant to which we provide you service. Your consent is sometimes implicit.”

AT&T has finally gotten around to following Verizon Wireless’ footsteps to fewer customer returns as it joins Big Red cutting “no hassle” returns to just two weeks.

Starting this month, if you return a phone to AT&T within 14 days, the company will charge you a $35 restocking fee or 10% of the purchase price for accessories over $199. Return it after 14 days and you may not be hassled, but you will be out as much as $325.

Consumers (including Individual Responsibility Users) – Device/Accessory Returns

Days after activation	Amount of refund	Fees, except where prohibited
0-14 days	Full refund less any applicable fees	Restocking fee: up to $35 for devices. 10% of purchase price for accessories over $199Apple devices: No restocking fee if device returned unopened
15 days or more	Return directly to manufacturer. Refund subject to manufacturer warranty policy as follows: Refurbished devices carry a warranty from the manufacturer of 90 days after purchase date. New devices carry a warranty of 1 year after purchase date.Apple devices: Refund subject to Apple warranty policy. New Apple branded equipment covered by Apple’s one-year Limited Warranty. Refurbished Apple branded equipment covered under Apple’s original Limited Warranty and will have at least 90 days or more remaining under warranty when sold.	AT&T early termination fee: Smartphone: $325 minus $10 for each full month you complete under the service commitmentBasic Phone, Mobile Hotspot, USB Modem: $150 minus $4 for each full month you complete under the service commitmentGaming and other devices without a service commitment: None Other fees: Subject to manufacturer warranty policy.

Cosmetic blemish items are considered closeout items and are not eligible for return or exchange. 

A veteran Kansas City AT&T employee with more than 40 years of service to the company died Sept. 19 after waiting 15 minutes for his employer to respond to urgent pleas for help and another 30 minutes before the company and emergency responders were finally able to locate him in the suburb of Gladstone.

Questions are being raised about why AT&T waited so long to locate and help Kevin Mashburn, 58, even as an ex-convict sits in a Clay County jail, charged with his murder. AT&T has so far refused to officially answer why dispatchers were not available to receive Mashburn’s frantic pleas for help and why they failed to use built-in GPS tracking equipment installed in company trucks to find Mashburn sooner.

According to official 911 transcripts, an AT&T employee eventually told Gladstone 911 dispatchers she was unable to ping Mashburn’s cellphone to help identify his exact location, telling the dispatcher “we’re not that useful.”

Mashburn was working alone, making overnight repairs to AT&T facilities in the area, when he was attacked by someone with a pry bar. Authorities later charged 35-year old ex-convict Bryan Middlemas with the crime. AT&T offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the case.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KSHB Kansas City Son Quicker response time could have saved dads life 9-25-12.mp4[/flv]

KSHB in Kansas City talked with Mashburn’s surviving son, who expressed concern that a quicker response time could have saved his dad’s life. Independence Power and Light says AT&T’s delayed response would never happen at their company.  (3 minutes)

Mashburn used AT&T’s instant messaging system installed in company trucks to alert his employer that he needed an ambulance after being attacked, but court documents show Mashburn waited 15 minutes for AT&T dispatchers to respond:

Kevin (2:52:24 a.m)  Amanda I NEEDE YOU TO CALL ME AN AMBULANCE

Kevin (2:52:37)  I HAVE BEEN ATTACKED

Kevin (2:52:57) HELP ME PLEASE

Kevin (2:53:32) I am in Gladstone, MO AT THE KENDALLWAOOD APAT. COMPLEX OFF ANTIOCH

Kevin (2:54:01) DOYOU READ ME?

About 15 minutes later an AT&T employee named Amanda responded to Mashburn’s message.

Amanda (3:11:20) I got it.

While he waited for the dispatcher to respond, Mashburn also sent messages to another AT&T employee on duty:

Kevin (2:55:13) GRACIE ARE YOU THERE?

Gracie (3:11:06) I’M HERE NOW

Gracie (3:11:11) I WAS IN A MEETING

Kevin (3:20:10) need police

Gracie (3:20:43) THEY HAVE BEEN CALLED.. AND SO HAS STRICKLEN

Kevin (3:20:47) hurry

Gracie (3:21:14) THEY ARE EN ROUTE

Kevin (3:21:07) ok

Kevin (3:21:14) ok

Gracie (3:21:21) STRICKLEN ALSO EN ROUTE

Kevin (3:21:38) ok

Kevin (3:24:03) was attacked wiyh a flat crowbar

Gracie (3:24:40) we are praying

Gracie (3:25:08) you hurt bad?

Kevin (3:25:12) yes

Kevin (3:25:37) head split open

Gracie (3:26:15) stricklin on line.. can you give us an exact location we have the address

Gracie (3:26:21) he is trying to find you

Gracie (3:26:45 he is trying to find you

Kevin (3:26:45) near crossbox. Beacon and flasher are on

Kevin (3:27:25) I can sound horn

Gracie (3:29:10) yes

Gracie (3:29:10) us are on kendallwood

Kevin (3:30:44) yes

Gracie (3:32:10) are you near a business… can not hear you horn but keep sounding

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KSHB Kansas City GPS questions in ATT techs murder 9-26-12.mp4[/flv]

KSHB explores how AT&T used (or did not use) the GPS system built-into Mashburn’s company vehicle to help locate him. (3 minutes)

Kansas City Police contacted Gladstone dispatchers regarding the assault on Sept. 19 at 3:12 a.m. Mashburn was not located until 3:42 a.m. Despite the fact AT&T trucks have built-in GPS tracking to monitor employees, the company has not publicly explained why it apparently went unused during the 30 minute search to find Mashburn. The frustration by all concerned was readily apparent in this portion of the official 911 transcript:

3:30:18 a.m. Gladstone Dispatcher #1: Our officers are still looking. They haven’t found anything yet.

3:30:20 a.m. Radio 258: I’m pulling out my map for the rental properties.

3:30:21 a.m. AT&T Supervisor (to dispatcher): Oh you’re kidding?

3:30:22 a.m. Gladstone Dispatcher #1: No.

At 3:32 a.m., AT&T Amanda said she called both Mashburn’s work and personal cellphones, but got no answer. By this point, four Gladstone Police officers were searching for Mashburn across the apartment complex.

3:32:50 a.m. Gladstone Dispatcher #1: Are you guys possible to ping his cellphone?

3:32:54 a.m. AT&T Amanda: I don’t have a way to.

3:32:56 a.m. Gladstone Dispatcher #1: You don’t have a way to do that?

3:32:59 a.m. AT&T Amanda: We’re not that useful.

3:33:33 a.m. AT&T Supervisor: It’s amazing you can’t find this guy.

Although medical teams eventually reached Mashburn, he did not survive the ordeal and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Mashburn’s son says he has been asked why his father sent messages to company dispatchers instead of calling authorities directly. William Mashburn told the local Fox affiliate that he was not surprised his father used the mobile data terminal to seek help, because that was one of his primary tools on the job.

“If you could try to keep in mind it was a pretty severe head injury,” William Mashburn told the Fox affiliate. “Maybe the ability to speak wasn’t there. Maybe the phone was dislodged during any confrontation or something so, there’s a lot of questions we don’t have answers to, if people could be a little sensitive to that, we’d appreciate it.”

[flv width=”480″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KSHB Kansas City 911 call details confusion in ATT attack 9-27-12.mp4[/flv]

KSHB chronicles almost an hour of confusion and frustration trying to reach the injured AT&T worker, who was pronounced dead when he finally reached the hospital nearly an hour after the attack. (3 minutes)

AT&T and Time Warner Cable are complaining they have gotten a raw deal from Kansas City, Mo. and Kansas City, Ks., in comparison to the incentives Google was granted to wire both cities with gigabit fiber broadband.

“It’s time to modernize our industry’s rules and regulations…so all consumers benefit from fair and equal competition,” read a statement from AT&T.

“There are certain portions of the agreement between Google and Kansas City, Kan., that put them at a competitive advantage compared with not just us but also the other competitors in the field,” said Alex Dudley, a Time Warner Cable spokesman. “We’re happy to compete with Google, but we’d just like an even playing field.”

The Wall Street Journal seemed to suggest Google was getting the keys to both cities, with grants of free office space and free power for Google’s equipment, according to the agreement on file with the cities. The company also gets the use of all the cities’ “assets and infrastructure”—including fiber, buildings, land and computer tools, for no charge. Both cities are even providing Google a team of government employees “dedicated to the project,” says the Journal.

The Google Fiber project was so desired that the local governments rolled out the red carpet. In Kansas City, Mo., for instance, the city is allowing Google to construct “fiberhuts,” small buildings that house equipment on city land at no cost, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The cities are discounting other services, as well. For the right to attach its cables to city utility poles, Google is paying Kansas City, Kan., only $10 per pole per year—compared with the $18.95 Time Warner Cable pays. Both cities have also waived permit and inspection fees for Google.

The cities are even helping Google market its fiber build-out. And both are implementing city-managed marketing and education programs about the gigabit network that will, among other things, include direct mailings and community meetings.

Several cable executives complain that the cities also gave Google the unusual right to start its fiber project only in neighborhoods guaranteeing high demand for the service through pre-registrations. Most cable and phone companies were required by franchise agreements with regional governments to build out most of the markets they entered, regardless of demand.

But the Journal missed two key points:

1. Time Warner Cable has been granted the same concessions given to Google on the Missouri side, and AT&T presumably will also get them when it completes negotiations with city officials on the matter.
2. Both cable and phone companies have the benefit of incumbency, and the article ignores concessions each had secured when their operations first got started.

The Bell System enjoyed a monopoly on phone service for decades, with concessions on rights-of-way, telephone poles and placement. AT&T was a major beneficiary, and although the AT&T of today is not the same corporation that older Americans once knew, the company continues a century-long tradition of winning the benefit of the doubt in both the state and federal legislature. AT&T has won statewide video franchise agreements that give the company the power to determine where it will roll out its more advanced U-verse platform, and enjoys carefully crafted federal tax policies that helped them not only avoid paying any federal tax in 2011 — the company actually secured a $420 million “refund” subsidized by taxpayers.

Cable operators also won major concessions from local governments under pressure from citizens eager to buy cable television. At the time, cable companies were granted exclusive franchises — a cable monopoly — to operate, an important distinction for investors concerned about the value of their early investments. Local zoning and pole attachment matters were either negotiated or dealt with legislatively to allow cable companies the right to hang their wires on existing utility poles. Franchise agreements permitted the gradual roll-out of cable service in each franchise area, often allowing two, three, or more years to introduce service. It was not uncommon for neighborhoods on one side of town to have cable two years before the other side could sign up. That sounds awfully familiar to AT&T U-verse today.

Google’s proposal to build a revolutionary broadband network delivering 1Gbps deserved and got the same type of treatment then-revolutionary phone and cable service won back in the day.

Time Warner Cable also won much the same treatment Google is now getting, and the cable operator has gotten $27,000 in fees refunded and will avoid another $100,000 in permit fees going forward. Time Warner Cable and Google will both receive free traffic control services during network construction — not that Time Warner Cable plans much of a change for customers in either Missouri or Kansas.

AT&T will likely also receive the same treatment, although it would be hypocritical of them to complain that Google gets to pick and choose where it provides service. Large swaths of Kansas City and suburbs are still waiting for U-verse to arrive, and many areas will never get the service. Cable operators had to wire a little further, but also benefited from years of monopoly status and network construction expenses paid off years ago when there literally was no competition.

Those paragons of virtue at Goldman Sachs are appalled Google has such a good relationship with Kansas City officials more than happy to have the gigabit speeds neither AT&T or Time Warner Cable would even consider providing.

Google’s rights “appear to be significantly more favorable than those cable, Verizon or any other fiber overbuilders achieved when striking deals with local governments in the past,” Goldman Sachs analyst Jason Armstrong told the Journal. “We’re surprised Time Warner Cable hasn’t been more vocal in its opposition.”

But then the cable company has secured most of the same benefits Google has, so why complain at all?

In fact, city officials had to browbeat Time Warner to modernize its network in ways it would have not done otherwise without the new agreement.

Both AT&T and Time Warner have every right to be concerned. Their substandard networks and high prices (along with a lousy history of customer service, according to national surveys) put them at a competitive disadvantage if Google does not make any major mistakes. Neither cable or phone company has made any noise about upgrading service to compete, and should customers begin to leave in droves, then both companies may actually have something to cry about.

The Wall Street Journal’s report on the concessions granted to Google wanders off into the Net Neutrality debate for some reason, and misses several important facts reviewed above.  (3 minutes)

Wireless companies with usage caps are in the money — your money — if you happen to own Apple’s iPhone 5. A serious bug afflicting the phone’s ability to connect and hold a Wi-Fi connection when using certain wireless security protocols is chewing up customers’ data allowances and exposing them to overlimit fees, even when they think the phone is connected to a free use Wi-Fi network.

So far, Verizon Wireless has confirmed the problem is impacting their customers, but our readers report problems with AT&T and Sprint iPhones as well.

“Under certain circumstances, iPhone 5 may use Verizon cellular data while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network,” said Torod Neptune, a spokesman for Verizon. “Apple has a fix that is being delivered to Verizon customers right on their iPhone 5. Verizon Wireless customers will not be charged for any unwarranted cellular data usage.”

Stop the Cap! reader John Pozniewicz thinks that is nice of Verizon, and wonders when AT&T will start dealing with the nearly $100 in overage fees he has already run up on similarly afflicted iPhone 5 smartphones he bought just last week.

“As best as I can tell, the problem seems to relate to the type of Wi-Fi security protocol your router has enabled,” Pozniewicz reports. “Many in the Apple community forums and I both agree the most likely culprit is AES encryption.”

Sprint customer Halle Thompson also wrote Stop the Cap! yesterday reporting her Sprint iPhone 5 was unable to hold its Wi-Fi connection either, forcing her to deal with Sprint’s slow 3G network, even when at home.

“Thank goodness Sprint doesn’t have a usage limit and overage fees or they would own my house by now, because I use my phone for everything,” Thompson says.

Thompson switched off her router’s wireless security and the problem disappeared, but now her Internet connection is open to everyone in her apartment complex. Pozniewicz spent the weekend experimenting with wireless security protocols and quickly found AES caused his Wi-Fi connection to become unstable.

If your readers are having the same problems I am, here is a workaround that will keep your router reasonably secure and accessible until the pointy heads at Apple figure out this disaster:

Recommended Security Settings:

• WPA only (least secure)
• WPA2 only
• WPA or WPA2 with TKIP

Not recommended:

• AUTO – AES
• WPA or WPA2 with AES enabled
• WPA or WPA2 with both TKIP and AES enabled

Verizon Wireless has told customers it will credit back any overage fees incurred as a result of the bug, but only if they ask. Customers should also demand Verizon reset their allowance or at least note their account regarding the problem. Customers should request credit for overlimit fees for both September and October, because early reports indicate the software update designed to fix this problem has not worked in all cases.

Pozniewicz is having much less success with AT&T which so far has refused all comment on the debacle and has been unwilling to issue any service credits for overages. Pozniewicz is upset, noting he has only had his iPhone 5 for a week and it has already cost him and his company an extra $100.

“I am extremely careful about only using Wi-Fi for anything that will consume a lot of data, but my only clue there was a problem was when I noticed how slowly my so-called ‘Wi-Fi’ connection was performing at home and work and that is when I discovered it was not actually using Wi-Fi at all,” Pozniewicz says. “What is insidious about this is that the Wi-Fi connection is still showing on the phone display, even when I am actually using AT&T’s network.”

Thompson reports her phone does seem to initially connect to Wi-Fi, but then loses the connection seconds or minutes later, eventually switching to Sprint’s 3G or 4G cellular networks. Sprint’s unlimited data plan makes the issue just an inconvenience. For Pozniewicz’s company, which has a contract for a dozen iPhones 5’s with AT&T, the overlimit fees are really adding up. His employees are also quickly burning through their own monthly data allowances.

“AT&T is a pack of vampires and they don’t care about anything other than my money, even after talking to two supervisors, one of which implied I was either lying about the problem or an idiot,” he said.

Here is how iPhone 5 customers can check their data usage: Select Settings, then General, then Usage, then Cellular Usage to see what your phone reports you have used thus far. If the numbers seem wildly out of whack, contact your wireless carrier and let them know you may be afflicted with the iPhone 5 bug and have them note your account for future credit for any subsequent overlimit fees.

Verizon customers should have already received a software update in an effort to correct the problem. You can verify this by following these steps:

1. Select Settings, then General, then About.
2. Wait for the message “Carrier Settings Updated,” then touch OK.
3. Allow the update (if any) to install.
4. If your phone does not automatically restart after the update is complete, turn the phone off and then on again to complete the update.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/iPhone 5 Wifi connection issue.flv[/flv]

iPhone 5’s Wi-Fi problems documented by YouTube user “MNeuenswander,” who found changing the security protocol on his router seemed to resolve the problem.  (2 minutes)