Lawmakers are now expressing interest in Verizion's use of persistent tracking technology, just as the wireless carrier said it was done with recording its subscribers' web histories with "supercookies."
A small collection of U.S. lawmakers have penned letters to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission, urging the regulators to take a hard look at Verizon's usage of supercookies.
Cookies temporarily store basic information about web sessions and can be erased anytime a user wishes to do so, since the information is stored locally. However, supercookies are stored in the network layer and out of reach of the user's "delete" and "clear history" buttons.
Verizon is believed to have been using supercookies on its network since 2012. Only recently did Verizon announced its plans to start offering its customers the ability to opt out of being followed around the Internet, but U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and company believes that it is time to put the persistent cookies under the microscope.
The team of legislators indicated that they are mulling new laws to crumble the supercookies, but the FTC and FCC are being asked to consider levying near-term penalties against Verizon.
"As we consider whether legislation may be necessary to fully protect consumers from the use of these supercookies, we also believe the Federal Communications Commission should use its full existing statutory authority to examine these practices," states the letter to the FCC. "In particular, the use of these supercookies may implicate the Commission's rules and policies related to consumer privacy and transparency."
"This whole supercookie business raises the specter of corporations being able to peek into the habits of Americans without their knowledge or consent," said Nelson. "That's why I think we need to get to the bottom of this and perhaps new legislation."
Legislators may have been keeping their eyes on Verizon and its supercookies for quite some time and even reached out to the wireless carrier for an explanation. But it appears the legislator finally decided to petition regulators after learning about allegations stating that the Verizon sold collected data to marketing firm Turn.
The lawmakers stated in their letter to the FTC that they contacted Verizon chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam about how third parties can or have been using the wireless carrier's supercookies, but that was before they learned of Turn's possible involvement.
When Verizon announced it was planning to offer a way for its subscribers to opt out of supercookies, company spokeswoman Debbie Lewis stated that user information wasn't being shared with third parties.
"As a reminder, Verizon never shares customer information with third parties as part of our advertising programs," stated Lewis.
