I was reading up on some new tech blogs recently and stumbled upon this not so little tidbit. Apparently Verizon has been modifying all website requests that originate from a cellular connection. This is not to be confused with you surfing the Internet on your cell phone when it is connected to WiFi, but is only when you are using the Verizon towers to transmit and receive your Internet connection.So what have they modified in your unencrypted Internet traffic? Well, they have added a UID string, which is a temporary Unique Identification Number, that is sent to the website that you are browsing to, whether it be Google, Amazon, eBay. Every single one of them will get this UID. Not to say that they will do anything with it, or that it is even being collected by the websites you use. It still hits home, that they are not disclosing this information readily to the public. I have also looked at the same traffic when using a WiFi connection and found that the X-UIDH value is missing, which means that the injection is only happening when the cellular connection is being used from unencrypted Internet connections. See below for image to compare to above for difference. So why should we worry about what looks like a bunch of random characters, being sent to all website? The answer is simple, it is essentially a tracking cookie that you have no control over. Clearing your browser's history, cache, cookies, etc. will not block or remove this random string of characters since it is being added once your request has been received at the Verizon towers, and is being modified before it is forwarded to the intended recipient (the website you wanted to go too). Your privacy controls are being bypassed and as of this post, has no opt-out function and to me, it spells TROUBLE and yes I believe the caps fit here. This method of data collection gives Verizon the ability to provide ad networks with information to build profiles based on customer metrics and search patterns. This should be stopped or at least have an full opt-out offer sent to every phone as a text message.Currently there is a limited opt-out for individuals, but the opt-out only tells Verizon not to share detailed demographic information with ad networks. They are still tagging your traffic. The thing is, it has been going since 2012, 2012!!!, and no one knew about this invasion of privacy.So this brings me to the next logical question. What can you do to stop this or at least block Verizon from do this to your connection? There are a few options. You could use a WiFi connectionYou could use HTTPS as much as possible, since Verizon can not modify HTTPS connections without breaking the request.You could use a VPN service which tunnels your request to another network. You could also use the Tor network, but using the Tor network would require software to be installed on your mobile device and may require a special mode call root, which can void the warranty. I will list a few VPN services below. http://www.goldenfrog.com/vyprvpn Android and iOS supportedhttps://www.expressvpn.com Androind and iOS supportedhttps://airvpn.org/ Android and iOS supportedhttps://mullvad.net/en/ Android and iOS supportedhttps://www.ipvanish.com Android and iOS supportedor a connection to your workplace if the option is available.If you want to see if your phone is being tracked, you can visit this site http://lessonslearned.org/sniff. Look at the BroadcastUID field. You want to make sure you are using the cellular network and not WiFi, since they are only able to inject the traffic if it passes through there equipment. Even if you are not a Verizon customer, check the link and see if your carrier is also tracking you.Check back often for more stories/information and and stay safe America. Links to some related articles: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/11/verizon-x-uidhhttp://webpolicy.org/2014/10/24/how-verizons-advertising-header-works/http://www.wired.com/2014/10/verizons-perma-cookie/http://adage.com/article/digital/verizon-target-mobile-subscribers-ads/293356/
