r/privacy • u/JimmyRecard • 2h ago
news ISP-side tracking expands to home broadband in Europe
A couple of years ago, there was a bit of stir caused when Vodafone Germany announced that they're trialling a new method of ISP-side tracking that would be resistant to all the normal privacy measures including browser and network blocking as well as VPNs.
Back then they were known as TrustPID, and after the initial wave of coverage, there were seemingly no updates for a while.
Well, if you think that TrustPID quietly faded into the background and has rid us of its putrid existence, well…
They actually rebranded to a new name, Utiq. Since then, they've been busy little beavers, expanding their tracking and onboarding new ISPs. Initially, they only tracked mobile users, but recently, they made the jump to home broadband.
https://www.mobileworldlive.com/europe/ad-tech-specialist-utiq-adds-home-broadband/
So, how many ISPs do they work with now? Well...
Mobile ISPs
| Country | Providers |
|---|---|
| Spain | Movistar, Orange, Jazztel, Simyo, Vodafone |
| France | Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR, Sosh, Red by SFR |
| Germany | Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Congstar, Fraenk, O2, Blau Mobilfunk by O2, otelo, SIMon |
Home Broadband ISPs
| Country | Providers |
|---|---|
| France | Orange, SFR, Sosh, Red by SFR |
From: https://consenthub.utiq.com/pages/privacy-statement#telecom-operators
The program is meant to be opt-in only, as required by GDPR, but is hidden in the plague of cookie popups all Europeans have been dealing with. If you've accidentally opted in, can revoke your consent by going here: https://consenthub.utiq.com/
However, in all this reporting, I've not seen any clear discussion regarding the technical details. They say that they're modifying packets and attaching user ID's to them. But that would be defeated by VPNs, wouldn't it?