T-Mobile shifts from opt-in to opt-out on customer data

T-Mobile’s US customers will be automatically assumed opted in to have to opt out of sharing their data as the phone business updates its privacy policy with one eye on its advertising business, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

Why it matters

At a time when many businesses are considering how best to give consumers more control over their data, T-Mobile’s decision appears to go against the grain. Consumers, however, may say one thing when asked specifically about privacy, but take a different view when faced with the practical consequences of that. 

The details

• From April 26, T-Mobile will share anonymised web and mobile-app data with advertisers unless consumers opt out.
• Advertisers will be able to target users by interest group, for example. 
• The move will apply to more than 80 million phone users under the T-Mobile and Sprint brands.
• Privacy advocates argue that the anonymised data can easily be linked back to individual users. 

Key quote

“We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting” – T-Mobile spokeswoman.