Verizon Will Now Share User's Browsing Habits with AOL's Network

When Verizon was clubbed with AOL earlier this year, both the companies claimed they were teaming up to pursue and build up the most significant media platform in the world. There is another thing that they both are sharing and that is your personal data. From November, Verizon will start relaying information shared by its supercookie as an identifier in mobile used as a standard for customer networks. AOL’s network is present on 40% of all websites and now will be able to match data plan users with the details they have and verify the same. Briefly, Verizon will build profiles of the browsing habits of users and target them with particular ads based on their cell phone usage.

This new shift has raised eyebrows because this tracking method will allow the third party to follow you around the internet. Unfortunately, the method is not only invasive but also unencrypted, enabling outside sources to more easily get their hands on it. Earlier in November, AT&T had banned the use of the supercookie after a public outrage. Verizon persisted, by saying it was "unlikely that sites and ad entities will attempt to build customer profiles." A few months later, it was revealed that the ad company Turn was reviving tracking "supercookies" on Verizon customers' phones even after they had attempted to delete it. In response, Verizon said it would work with Turn to ensure that its use of the supercookie was "consistent with the purposes we intended."

The second largest network in the U.S allowed its customers to opt for the supercookie option and is enabled on Verizon phones but most users don’t know about its existence. However, with Verizon’s clubbing with AOL, which is a massive ad network, traffic tracking will get aggressive and less transparent.