T-Mobile is selling your app usage data to advertisers — here’s how to opt out

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

T-Mobile is offering a new way for marketers to get to know you. According to Ad Exchanger, the un-carrier's new program is called App Insights, and it is now fully operational after a year in the testing phase. The program allows third-party marketers to buy T-Mobile customer data and centers around a key piece of information that it has unique access to.

Companies can't buy a specific user's app history because customer data is pooled with other interests and behaviors. It is still quite unnerving. On the company's website, the phrase "Apps speak louder than words" is splashed across the top of the page. Prospective clients are invited to leverage app insights to gauge consumer intent. It's gross. You have the option to opt out.

Image: T-Mobile Advertising Solutions

You can see which companies have your data in T-Mobile's "Magenta Marketing Platform Choices" app. App Choices can be used if you don't want to be tracked by T-Mobile. Even if a user opts in to app tracking, they are not included in the program.

This kind of behavior from carriers has been going on for a long time. With companies that allow people to opt out of tracking more easily, marketers are looking for different ways to peek into your online habits. T-Mobile is the most recent wireless carrier to give that information.