Verizon is primed to become ad-tracking giant and take full advantage of an impotent FCC, using consumer data without permission, as it's done with supercookies
it's going to be a nightmare ad-tracking machine - The Verge DSLreports : FCC, FTC Heads Pen Comical Op-Ed Downplaying Privacy Sell Out Cecilia Kang / New York Times : At F.C.C., Obama-Era Rules on Chopping Block Karl Bode / Techdirt : FCC, FTC Bosses Pen Misleading Editorial Falsely Claiming The Best Way To Protect Your Privacy … Jan Dawson / Tech Narratives : FCC and FTC Heads Outline Policy on Internet Privacy Jeff John Roberts / Fortune : FCC Chair Takes New Swipe at Net Neutrality Rules Tweets: @dhh : Never been happier that I switched from @Verizon to @TMobile. @JohnLegere, you better not pull this disgusting s**t! http://www.theverge.com/... @newsycombinator : Verizon wants a piece of Google's ad business http://www.theverge.com/... Jason Kint / @jason_kint : Based on prior history, the mission of Oath will be to aggregate billions of low-quality impressions, cobble together ad technologies,... @nytimesbusiness : When Congress overturned internet privacy, the swift action sent a clear message: They're just getting started http://www.nytimes.com/... @nytmedia : When Congress overturned internet privacy, the swift action sent a clear message: They're just getting started http://www.nytimes.com/... Karl Bode / @karlbode : 1. The FTC/FCC are effectively suggesting we “fix” privacy by killing net neutrality... https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Howard Buskirk / @hbuskirk : .@POTUS expects @FCC to take fresh look at ISP privacy rules, but only after it has 5 commissioners in place, White House official says. Howard Buskirk / @hbuskirk : .@FCC plans to recruit new economists, @AjitPaiFCC says @HudsonEvents But what about hiring freeze? Hamza Shaban / @hshaban : The White House signaled it is not ready to write new online privacy legislation https://www.recode.net/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
The regulatory guardrail came off first: tech and advertiser trade groups helped Congress dismantle the Obama-era ISP privacy rules in May 2017 (trade groups backed the repeal), leaving carriers free to share customer browsing data without explicit opt-in. The FCC and FTC heads followed with an op-ed downplaying the need for stricter protections.
Verizon arrives at this moment with both the intent and the record: its stated goal in buying Yahoo and AOL was to compete with Google and Facebook in digital advertising by sharing wireless-customer data with advertisers (the Yahoo-AOL ad strategy), and its undisclosed 'supercookie' tracking showed how far it would go before any rule required permission.
First-order effects
- Verizon can now feed its wireless subscribers' browsing and app-usage data into the Yahoo-AOL ad machine without asking permission, directly monetizing the one asset Google and Facebook lack: network-level visibility into all mobile traffic.
- Consumers lose the opt-in protection the repealed rules provided, with their only practical recourse being carrier switching — as the article's cited reaction from a customer who moved to T-Mobile illustrates.
Second-order effects
- Google and Facebook gain a new class of competitor whose data is collected at the pipe rather than the app, pressuring them to argue for rules that catch ISPs even as they benefit from lighter-touch treatment themselves.
- Other ISPs face little reason to hold back: with no federal privacy baseline, matching Verizon's data-sharing practices becomes table stakes, and the nine ISPs already showing few firm commitments on net-neutrality conduct after repeal (few firm commitments post-repeal) signal the same permissive posture on data.
Third-order effects
- The enforcement map splits: FCC chairman Pai, who supported ending ISP privacy rules, later floated a transparency law aimed at Twitter, Facebook and Google (Pai's call for platform transparency) — suggesting oversight migrates toward platforms while carrier data practices go largely unchecked by either agency.
- If the pattern holds, US broadband providers structurally become advertising companies, with subscriber data as a core revenue line and privacy protection left to fragmented state law and market pressure rather than a federal rule.
The trend: Carriers are converting network access into an advertising-data business as the regulatory boundary between ISP and platform erodes, leaving consumer data practices governed by whichever agency still claims jurisdiction.