Friday, April 22, 2011

Verizon Terms of Service Allows them to Change Your Password!!!!

This is one of the most absurd things I have seen come out of a ISP lately. Verizon just sent their customers an update to their terms and conditions of their Verizon Fios product.

Buried in their email about Terms and Services is this gem:
3. Home Router Password Changes. Section 10.4 was updated to clarify that Verizon may in limited instances modify administrative passwords for home routers in order to safeguard Internet security and our network, the security and privacy of subscriber information, to comply with the law, and/or to provide, upgrade and maintain service. The administrative password for your home router is used to access the “administrative” controls for the router and to make changes to your router’s internal settings. We will use reasonable means to notify Subscribers whose home router administrative passwords are changed, which may include email notice to your Primary Email Address and/or an announcement on the My Verizon portal.

The funniest part of this update is that the email to their customers started with:
Good News!

Verizon, how is it good news that you just changed the terms of my service to give you complete access to my home network without my permission.  Ironically, another part of this same Verizon Terms change notifies the customers of a toll free number that was set up for the purpose of "Reporting Security Incidents Involving Lost or Stolen Login Credentials".  - Well we are probably going to need that now that Verizon remote technicians now have the right to change my credentials at will.

Another joke is that they will notify us of any changes via the myverizon portal.  That is the same myverizon portal that is broken over 50% of the time that I try to access it. 

Verizon, get your self together, you are rapidly losing faith from your customers.

I wish Aircards and their monthly service were not expensive, and that 4G would get here quicker, without badwidth limits or caps!

2 comments:

Joshua said...

Since it wasn't specified in the paragraph you posted, I wonder if they mean routers provided by them (i.e. a fios "modem" that includes a router) I dare say that my cable company would not be able to log in to my Linksys running Tomato to change it's password.

Thoughts said...

Joshua,
Yes, it is Verizon's router they have access to. With Verizon, they supply the router at no cost (and it is required). You of course can install your own router between their router and your network, and deny them access, but they in turn, could theoretically disconnect your equipment from "their" router with these terms and conditions.