T-Mobile has two new toggles that could affect your privacy, should you turn them off?

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR T-Mobile has added two new privacy toggles: one for sharing certain financial information and another for fraud/identity theft protection. The first toggle allows T-Mobile to share your financial data with affiliates and marketers, while the second is meant to help detect fraud. You can disable both toggles in the T-Life app, and for most people, turning off the first is strongly recommended. T-Mobile and the other big carriers have a certain reputation when it comes to handling your personal data — and frankly, it’s not good. It’s no secret that your data can be used for targeted ads, sold to third parties for marketing purposes, and more. Not to mention, all the big carriers have had their fair share of major data breaches as well. Out of all three, T-Mobile probably offers the most robust privacy controls at least, covering a wider range of specific privacy-related situations. You can disable many of these settings directly in the Privacy Center, but you’ll need to stay on top of any changes, as most of these options are enabled by default. In fact, as first pointed out by The Mobile Report, there are now two new toggles that have been recently added to the mix. While one of these new privacy toggles might legitimately be worth keeping on, let’s start with the one I’m most iffy about. Should you disable all the toggles in Privacy Center? 6 votes Yes, absolutely! 83 % Most of them, but the new Fraud option might be worth it. 17 % No, I don't bother with disabling them. 0 % Other (tell us in comments) 0 % While T-Mobile collects a lot of data, it’s limited in what it can do with personal information associated with device financing or postpaid service. That said, if the “Sharing certain financial information” toggle is on, T-Mobile will be able to collect and share your data with financial companies for joint marketing, affiliates for everyday business purposes related to creditworthiness, affiliates for their marketing purposes, and non-affiliates for their marketing purposes. Next, there’s the “Fraud and identity theft protection” toggle. This one certainly sounds less sketchy. According to T-Mobile’s website, it uses your data to “create indicators of potential fraud” to better protect you. For example, your bank might request to know if your contact information on your account has changed recently, or if there has been any unusual calling activity, which could indicate attempted fraud. Should you turn these two toggles off, or leave them on? Joe Maring / Android Authority I’d suggest disabling the first toggle immediately. As for the second one? In theory, it could be useful. That said, it’s unclear exactly what kind of information T-Mobile would share with other companies or what security is in place to prevent abuse, leaks, or mismanagement. Honestly, at this point, I find it hard to trust any company’s data privacy policies, and when given an option to share less, I typically do it. Personally, I’d rather set up third-party identity protection services or just monitor my transactions carefully, rather than blindly trust that a big corporation is taking all the necessary precautions to protect my data. T-Mobile will, of course, tell you that these changes are helpful and good. There might even be some truth to it from time to time, but it’s not something I would personally take my chances on. Ultimately, though, the decision is up to you for both toggles, though the benefits are more obvious with the second one. The first option is really something everyone would probably disable if they knew it existed, but most average (read: non-techie) folks never dig deep enough to realize they can turn this stuff off in the first place. To disable the toggles, here’s what you’ll need to do: Open the T-Life app and go to the Manage tab. and go to the tab. Hit the Gear icon at the top right, and scroll down to Privacy and Policies . Tap it. at the top right, and scroll down to . Tap it. Next, tap on “get started,” and then you’ll be taken to a main dashboard with the toggles. Simply scroll to the new toggles and any others you’d like to disable, and switch them off. It’s important to note that this also must be done on a per-line basis. Disabling toggles on your main account/line won’t automatically disable them for the rest of your devices. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at [email protected] . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.