Sharp Slap On The Wrist To Verizon Over “Supercookies”

The FCC has reached a settlement with Verizon Wireless over so-called “supercookies,” used to track consumer’s internet habits which were then sold to third parties. Apparently the reason they are called “super” is that you can’t delete them. As part of the settlement the company promises to inform consumers about its data collection practices, get permission from consumers before selling the data, and pay a fine of $1.6 million, an amount described by the Times as small but still large enough to get the attention of the industry as an indicator that the agency intends to take privacy seriously as a potential enforcement area.