We knew it as Trustpid but it arrived in Spain in June under the name Utiq, a play on words with ‘U’ and ‘tiq’ since we are the ones who tick to give consent for Utiq to assign us a digital identifier that will be used by media and advertisers to show you ads related to your interests. At the moment, Movistar, Orange and Jazztel have already implemented it in their mobile networks: We will tell you how it works and how you can deactivate Utiq if you have already agreed to its banner.
On June 14, Utiq was launched in Spain, succeeding the Trustpid testing project (completely closed on August 14) and from that moment the Utiq website was already accessible and a few weeks later, the new privacy portal, called Consent Hub. Stick with that name, because we’ll come back to it later.
From then on, it was a matter of time before the three teleco that operate in Spain and are part of the joint venture (Telephone, Vodafone and Orange) began to implement it. Of course, without a known calendar of implementation dates or in which brands. Utiq is already operational in Spain: the Movistar Transparency Center thus explains its operation and Orange does the same, detailing that it is currently available to customers of the orange company and its Jazztel brand. At Vodafone, Utiq has not yet been applied to its customers. Likewise, and according to Bandaancha, some media such as El Mundo have also activated it.
How Utiq works
Utiq works as follows: when you browse the internet on your mobile using your data rate, each domain you visit you will be greeted with a consent banner where the conditions of service will be detailed. In other words, it sticks to the mobile device and the line (however, it is expected that sooner or later it will reach the fixed network).
If you say yes to that banner, Utiq will assign you a digital identifier or pseudonymized and encrypted token which will later be used for advertising and targeted content based on your interests for 90 days, after which the banner will appear again to repeat the question. According to Utiq, they will not have access to customers’ personal data.
You may say yes but later you will regret it.. In this case, you can go to the Consent Hub portal to manage your privacy and revoke your consent at any time, as well as deactivate or completely disable the platform.
At a technical level and in a simplified waythe websites that participate in the Utiq load a specific script and if you are a Telefónica, Orange or Jazztel customer (at the moment), the banner of consent. If we touch ‘Accept’, a request is sent to the operator with the IP and it receives the Network Signal back. With the Network Signal, Utiq generates and saves the Consentpass containing the authorization and the unique hexadecimal identifier created from your mobile phone number. This token is marketed so that companies can monitor the user without cookies and thus personalize ads and analyze who visits them.
How to disable Utiq
As we mentioned above, the idea is that we can always have our privacy management at hand and the way to go back: you just have to go to the Consenthub website from the mobile where you received the banner. What if the warning pop-up has not appeared? Well, also: you have the option of preventing the system from activating.
Once inside the web, tap on ‘Access your consenthub‘, which will allow you to check if your mobile service provider company and your line is available to provide the Utiq identifier (in my case, I am a Vodafone customer, so the access has failed, something that could also happen to you if by mistake you enter through Wi-Fi or have an ad blocker).
If you sign in successfully, it will show what the Utiq status is for your line and what consents you have provided. That’s where you can display the ‘I don’t want to use the Utiq service‘, where you will see the button ‘Prevent Utiq service activation‘. If you activate it, Utiq will be irreversibly blocked for your mobile line for one year.
Via | Broadband
In Xataka Mobile | The advertising spin of Telefónica, Orange and Vodafone has a name: Utiq. We have spoken with your manager