T-Mobile is happy to sell customer app habits to advertisers
T-Mobile’s advertising business offers marketers a new way to understand your app usage habits. Ad Exchanger reports that the un-carrier’s new program is called App Insights and that it is now fully operational after a year in beta. The program allows third-party marketers to buy T-Mobile customer data and centers around an important piece of information it has unique access to: which apps you use.
Customer data is anonymized and merged with others with similar interests and behaviors, preventing companies from buying a specific user’s app history. Still, it’s creepy. The company’s ad segment touts this offering loud and clear on its website, with the phrase “Apps speak louder than words” at the top of the page. It also invites potential customers to “utilize app insights, the strongest indicator of consumer intent.” That’s nasty. Fortunately, you can unsubscribe.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23650344/Screen_Shot_2022_06_24_at_12.57.57_PM.png)
T-Mobile offers an Android and iOS app called “Magenta Marketing Platform Choices” which allows you to see which companies have your data and to opt out completely. You can also use App Choices if you don’t want to, you know, download a T-Mobile app to unsubscribe from T-Mobile app tracking. According to ad exchanger, iOS users will be banned from the program even if they have opted in for app tracking.
This kind of creepy carrier behavior isn’t new and it probably won’t get any better. With companies like Google and Apple making it easier for people to opt out of tracking, marketers are looking for different ways to look into your online habits. Wireless carriers have eagerly jumped in to provide that information, and T-Mobile is just the latest to do so.
