Utiq – The ad tracking of your (European) ISP and how to avoid it

flexagoon•about 10 hours ago

List of providers that use this, from Utiq's website:

  supported mobile connections:
  - UK: O2, Vodafone, VOXI
  - Spain: Movistar, Orange, Jazztel, Simyo, Vodafone
  - France: Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR, Sosh, Red by SFR
  - Germany: Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Congstar, Fraenk, O2, Blau Mobilfunk by O2, Ortel Mobile by O2, otelo, SIMon, Freenet* and Klarmobil* (*but only in the Deutsche Telekom network), WhatsAppSIM, Nettokom, Fonic, AY YILDIZ, Tchibo Mobil
  - Canada: Bell, Rogers, Telus
    Starting from 1st of June 2026, Bell, Rogers and Telus connections will no longer be supported.
    This means that, even if you consent, the Utiq technology will not be activated. All the data related to these connections held in the Utiq Platform will also be deleted
  - Italy: TIM
  
  supported broadband connections:
  - UK: Vodafone
  - France: Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR, Sosh, Red by SFR, Free
  - Spain: Movistar, Orange, Jazztel, Simyo
  - Germany: Deutsche Telekom, O2, Vodafone

Shank•about 11 hours ago

It’s absolutely crazy that the land of GDPR can legally implement a tracking mechanism this invasive. I guess this is legal because it doesn’t use cookies, and they “obtain consent”?

klinch•about 11 hours ago

GDPR was never about cookies but about freely given consent.

Two things that make Utiq absolutely terrible (and imho illegal)

1. It's crazy that any person who is using my internet connection (guest wifi?) can give "consent" that leads to everyone else being tracked.

2. ISPs are abusing their highly privileged position. It's not easy to switch providers (if at all possible), so as "gatekeepers" they should behave responsibly (c.f. DMA designated Gatekeepers etc) and not abuse their power.

graemep•about 7 hours ago

In the UK it is very easy to switch providers if you use a BT line. As this is a result of local loop unbundling rules that were in place before Brexit it must be the same within the EU, and other countries may have similar rules.

It is not particularly difficult to switch to providers that have their own local connections if they supply your area either (in the UK, at least).

hollow-moe•about 7 hours ago

Switching provider isn't an option, it's only a matter of time before all the actors implement this garbage, there need to be strong legal bariers. Anyone sane would think we need forbidding laws as broad, vague and expeditive as the ones they use to justify DRMs and shit so corporate won't even try to fuck around because it'd be so easy to find out.

like_any_other•about 2 hours ago

Clearly the law does not sufficiently disincentivize such spying. CEOs should not be thinking "how much can we get away with", they should be thinking "how do I stay out of jail", like any black-hat hacker would be. Until they're punished as severely as weev was for accessing public URLs [1], it will only get worse.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatse_Security#AT&T/iPad_emai...

q3k•about 11 hours ago

> You are in control

But also:

> The Utiq technology is linked to the internet connection. This means that anyone using the same connection will have access to the same consenthub view and will be able to manage Utiq consents given when using that connection. For example, when you share broadband connection with others in your household or if you use tethering/hotspot.

And of course the consent management panel is behind a CAPTCHA - god forbid someone automate revoking consent! I'm guessing no CATPCHA is needed to give consent, though.

pohuing•about 3 hours ago

Even sneakier. If you use an ad block(FF android with Privacy Badger and Block Origin) it'll tell you your connection doesn't support uniq yet. But if you then load the page in chrome without add-ons you can suddenly manage it, despite being on the same connection!

I guess I can't expect an advertising platform to work with adblockers on.

q3k•about 11 hours ago

Yeah, just found a consent banner for this. No CAPTCHA, and the following sentence buried half way through the consent screen:

> By consenting, you confirm that you have permission from the telecom account holder to enable the Utiq technology on this internet connection.

I cannot adequately express my contempt for people who have designed and implemented this.

Utiq – The ad tracking of your (European) ISP and how to avoid it

⚡ Community Insights

Discussion (10 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews