The email arrived with this message: “At Verizon Wireless your privacy is our priority.” How nice. So I read on: “We’re enhancing our Relevant Mobile Advertising program in a way that can help marketers reach you with messages …” And here I thought privacy was defined as “the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people.”
I can opt out of their program by signing into the Verizon website with my password, which I don’t have. Or I can phone, in which case I will be required to climb a phone tree. An electronic voice will tell me the call is being monitored. When I finally reach someone actual, I’ll get an apology for any inconvenience, a sales pitch for an upgrade, and a most sincere wish to have a nice day. Because my privacy is Verizon’s priority.
The fine print: “Actually, your privacy is just one of our priorities, and to be perfectly honest, it’s a relatively minor one.”