AT&T to FamilyMap Users: You Have No Expectation of Privacy

AT&T recently announced the launch of FamilyMap, a service that allows customers with a "Family Plan" to track the locations of other cell phones on the same plan.

This is the kind of service that, whether well-intentioned or not, raises all sorts of privacy concerns: it can be used just as easily to monitor a partner or even a parent as to keep tabs on a child's location. Unfortunately, the security mechanisms that AT&T has in place may be insufficient to protect against abuses of the system. Worse, AT&T bluntly disavows any responsibility to protect user privacy, stating that users "expressly agree that You have no expectation of privacy when using AT&T FamilyMap as it relates to Your location."

Speak up and contact AT&T and tell them that you expect much more and aren't going to pay for a new product with your privacy rights!

AT&T: "You Have No Expectation of Privacy"

FamilyMap raises plenty of issues from the privacy perspective. The service authorizes AT&T to "collect, use, and disclose geographic location and other personal information (including Your name, address, telephone number, account number, equipment identifiers, and Internet Protocol addresses) to enable delivery of the AT&T FamilyMap service, which may include relevant advertising functions . . . ." The combination of location information, accurate to "within a few yards," and other personal information threatens to capture a rich profile of any targeted user: friends, hobbies, religious or political affiliations, and visits to health professionals could all be determined from a combination of location and personal information.

Unfortunately, FamilyMap gives users very little ability to protect their own privacy. When any user in a Family Plan signs up for FamilyMap, he can request location information on any phone sharing the same plan. The user of the phone being tracked receives only a single text message notifying that user that their phone is being tracked - which could easily be deleted by the tracking party if he or she has access to the tracked phone - as well as "periodic notification via text message that they can be located. These messages are received about once a month." (A pair of blog posts suggest that even this notice isn't always received or understood.)

In other words, another member of your Family Plan could track you for a month or more without your awareness or consent - whether that person was a parent or a "jealous spouse / boyfriend / girlfriend." The only person who receives any other sort of notification - or who has the ability to alter privacy settings to prevent phones from being located - is the account holder. Sharing a "Family Plan" with someone else who has the account in their name? Sorry, you're out of luck.

And then there's AT&T's stated position on user privacy. The Terms of Use for FamilyMap state that, as a user of the service, "You expressly agree that You have no expectation of privacy when using AT&T FamilyMap as it relates to Your location." In other words, if anyone ever comes knocking and demands (or just asks for?) your information, AT&T is telling you that you have no right to protest if AT&T simply hands that information over.

Overall, AT&T is showing a remarkable lack of concern for user privacy. Instead of tacking issues of privacy head-on, AT&T is practically advertising the fact that it has no intention of standing up for the privacy interests of its users. In fact, by requiring a waiver of any expectation of privacy in its terms of use, it may actually compromise its users' rights to protect their own privacy while using the FamilyMap service.

Tell AT&T: I Do Expect Privacy!

As our recent publication, Privacy and Free Speech: It's Good for Business, demonstrates, companies that actively look to protect their users' privacy and free speech rights will benefit from positive press and customer trust. AT&T seems to be looking the other way, deciding that bluntly rejecting any obligation to look out for their customers' best interests is a better route. Apparently they haven't learned their lesson from past incidents.

The best response to AT&T's blatant disregard of your privacy is to speak out, loudly, and tell them that you expect more. Don't sign up for the service until AT&T changes their Terms of Use and promises to protect the privacy of your personal information. And while you're at it, contact AT&T and tell them exactly why you're not signing up and that you won't use their new services until they make user privacy a priority!

Don't let AT&T give away your rights with a clause buried in its terms of service. Make your voice heard and demand your right to privacy when you choose to use cool new technology!