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?
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