AT&T and Verizon Are Fighting Back Against T-Mobile's Easy Switch Tool (tmo.report) 22
AT&T and Verizon are blocking T-Mobile's new "Switching Made Easy" tool that scans their customer accounts to recommend comparable plans. AT&T is also suing, alleging T-Mobile used bots to scrape over 100 fields of sensitive customer data. From The Mobile Report: According to a lawsuit, which AT&T has shared directly with us, T-Mobile updated the T-Life app's scraping abilities three separate times in an attempt to bypass AT&T's detection. Essentially, T-Mobile and AT&T have been in a game of cat and mouse. Not only that, but AT&T alleges that T-Mobile is intentionally hiding the fact that it's their scraper accessing an account, and essentially pretends to be an end user while doing so. Apparently, T-Mobile's scraping bot tries its best to appear as a generic web browser.
AT&T sent T-Mobile a cease and desist letter on November 24th demanding T-Mobile stop the scraping process. T-Mobile responded two days later refusing, stating that the process was legal because "customers themselves ... log into their own wireless account." On November 26th, AT&T says they detected T-Mobile is no longer scraping the AT&T website, and instead asks users to upload a pdf of their bill or enter some info manually. They note, however, that at the time the app still appeared to scrape Verizon accounts. The lawsuit further explains that AT&T reached out to Apple with the claim that T-Mobile's T-Life app is also violating the App Store Review Guidelines. T-Mobile responded to this complaint as well, making similar claims that the scraping process does not violate those guidelines. [...]
According to AT&T, the T-Life app collects way more information than is necessary for a simple carrier switch. The company alleges T-Mobile grabs over 100 separate bits of info from a customer's account, including info about other users on the account and other services not related to wireless service. It's also worth noting that, apparently, T-Mobile is storing this information, not just using it temporarily, even if the customer doesn't end up switching. T-Mobile has responded to our request for comment, and says that actually, AT&T is wrong about the facts, and Easy Switch is safe and secure...
AT&T sent T-Mobile a cease and desist letter on November 24th demanding T-Mobile stop the scraping process. T-Mobile responded two days later refusing, stating that the process was legal because "customers themselves ... log into their own wireless account." On November 26th, AT&T says they detected T-Mobile is no longer scraping the AT&T website, and instead asks users to upload a pdf of their bill or enter some info manually. They note, however, that at the time the app still appeared to scrape Verizon accounts. The lawsuit further explains that AT&T reached out to Apple with the claim that T-Mobile's T-Life app is also violating the App Store Review Guidelines. T-Mobile responded to this complaint as well, making similar claims that the scraping process does not violate those guidelines. [...]
According to AT&T, the T-Life app collects way more information than is necessary for a simple carrier switch. The company alleges T-Mobile grabs over 100 separate bits of info from a customer's account, including info about other users on the account and other services not related to wireless service. It's also worth noting that, apparently, T-Mobile is storing this information, not just using it temporarily, even if the customer doesn't end up switching. T-Mobile has responded to our request for comment, and says that actually, AT&T is wrong about the facts, and Easy Switch is safe and secure...
Because AT&T has their customers privacy at he (Score:2)
They would protect the data against data breaches better if that were their true concern:
https://nypost.com/2025/12/01/... [nypost.com]
"safe and secure" (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
The definition isn't really arbitrary. It's "You can only have our data if you pay us for it." That's about it. T-Mobile didn't pay for the data, therefore it's a privacy breach.
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But if you're using at&t services that are not offered by, or are less expensive than, the services offered by T-Mobile, surely having T-Mobile scan your account settings to be able to make that determination would surely be beneficial, compared to switching only to find out that its more expensive or feature incomplete.
Re: (Score:2)
T-Mobile didn't pay for the data, therefore it's a privacy breach.
If a person voluntarily gives T-Mobile access to the data about themselves, it isn't a privacy breach.
Re: "safe and secure" (Score:2)
parent was being sarcastic i assume.
Nevertheless, it is not a privacy breach by any normal personâ(TM)s definition, but it probably is a violation of terms and conditions. but that would be a violation on the part of the subscriber, not t-mobile.
Re: (Score:2)
T-Mobile didn't pay for the data, therefore it's a privacy breach.
If a person voluntarily gives T-Mobile access to the data about themselves, it isn't a privacy breach.
I can voluntarily give 10 different friends access to my Disney+ streaming account*, but that doesn't mean those 10 people now have a legal, valid license to access Disney+ content.
*I do not actually have a Disney+ account, because ew, Disney.
Re: (Score:2)
Want "easy switch"? Try prepaid cell service (Score:3)
Seriously. Prepaid cell service is to traditional plans, what streaming is to cable TV.
You can stop any time you want, switch whenever you want, no penalties, no commitments. Plus, prices for prepaid plans are much lower, like $20-35 per month, depending on the type of plan you have. Of course, you do have to buy your own phone, so if you want that $1,200 premium Samsung or Apple phone, that's on you. But there are a whole lot of great phones for $200 or less, such as Moto G.
I started doing prepaid back in the early 2000s and never looked back.
Re: some problems (Score:2)
Not true. US mobile provided me with >1 yr call records, and at no cost.
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For example if you need to get call records months after the fact, with prepaid, tough shit, they don't have them at all.
Nonsense.
Want HD calling? Prepaid got it years after postpaid.
Why would I care? I don't speak a language for which call quality matters.
Paying three times as much or more for someone else to keep records for you is dumb. My phone keeps records for me.
Exhibit Number 12,817,433 ... (Score:3)
... showing how much every single cellular provider in existence sucks rocks.
Do customers own their own data? (Score:2)
I get why AT
Re: Do customers own their own data? (Score:2)
It should. It's just AT&T and Verizon being their usual greedy bastards and desperately trying to protect their profits because they know their bills/rates are ridiculous. They're just trying to stop people from realising how fucked they are and from walking away.
Re: Do customers own their own data? (Score:2)
Shouldn't*
safe and secure? (Score:2)
sure, sure. t-mobile has such a great track record on security. hahahahaha!!!!
Latest iteration (Score:2)
This pattern keeps re-emerging.
Online payment systems want your bank login details.
Facebook was infamous for scraping your IMAP account for contact information.
etc.
The implications for security are so severe I wouldn't mind if this were illegal, but certainly it should be legal for banks or cell providers to terminate online accounts of people who share their credentials, no matter if - or especially if - they are with other large corporations. How many times has T-Mobile been hacked in the past two years?
Re: (Score:2)