Verizon’s “perma-cookies” are a massive privacy concern

Do you work hard to maintain your privacy on your smartphone, using third-party tools such as Don Not Track? Well if you’re a Verizon subscriber, those efforts probably aren’t doing you any good because, as reported by Wired, the telecommunications giant has been modifying some of its cellular web traffic to insert a Unique Identifier Header (UIDH) that helps create profiles for targeted ads.

Jacob Hoffman-Andrews, a technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wants Verizon to stop using the UIDH, according to NBC News, saying that “ISPs are trusted connectors of users and they shouldn’t be modifying our traffic on its way to the Internet.” He also refers to the UIDH as a “perma-cookie” due to the fact that it can be read by any web server that you visit.

While it’s possible to opt out of the associated advertisement program in order to avoid the sales pitches, the UIDH isn’t turned off, and websites will still be able to build a unique profile of your activity online, whether for something as simple as targeted advertisements, or something as malicious as custom phishing attacks. It’s unclear how long the UIDH lasts, but PCWorld noted that the persist for at least a few days.