[Cialug] Remedies for Verizon Behaving Badly?

[jim kraai]

Here's what I think is going on
- Verizon wireless is rewriting outgoing web request headers, adding a
header with an identifying token
- web service providers can use this data to consolidate a cell phone's
activities across browsers, etc
- unless verizon customers opt out, the link between their identity and the
token is for sale by verizon
- I seriously doubt that the token changes whenever the user opts out, so
opting out is effectively useless
- note that this is done at verizon, not on the phone, so it's only for
traffic using their 3/4G network, so people connecting through wifi aren't
affected

It's a nice scheme if you're verizon.

Here's an article:  https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/11/verizon-x-uidh

Discounting the obvious and expensive solution of, "change carriers," what
are some ways of getting around or neutralizing this when I'm not on wifi?

Unfortunately, VPN may not be a solution, as I learned that Verizon phones
don't get a real IP address, so can't stay connected to a VPN. Search for
"verizon wireless VPN not working" to see details of that separate problem.