AT&T can charge me for using jailbroken iPhone?

[TomatoTomago]

I talked to a friend of mine who worked at an official at&t store. He said that every at&t account is monitored by at&t watchdog called snooper. He got an iphone 3g and from his experience one time, the moment he put a simcard from his blackberry into the iphone and turned it on, snooper detected it within 15 minutes.
every iphone is supposed to have a data plan. so if you don't have a data plan, and you were unlucky enough to have snooper catch on to you, snooper will automatically send you a text warning about possible data interruption etc. then snooper will flag your account. any future data usage not covered by a proper data plan will be charge to your account. if you ever get excess charges, you can go to an official at&t store and get it credited BUT if the reps pull up your account and see that you've flagged and warned, your request will be denied.
if you don't have the right iphone plan but haven't received a text warning you about it, there's a good chance snooper haven't noticed it and consider yourself lucky.

 

[sunnysideup]

I talked to a friend of mine who worked at an official at&t store. He said that every at&t account is monitored by at&t watchdog called snooper. He got an iphone 3g and from his experience one time, the moment he put a simcard from his blackberry into the iphone and turned it on, snooper detected it within 15 minutes.
every iphone is supposed to have a data plan. so if you don't have a data plan, and you were unlucky enough to have snooper catch on to you, snooper will automatically send you a text warning about possible data interruption etc. then snooper will flag your account. any future data usage not covered by a proper data plan will be charge to your account. if you ever get excess charges, you can go to an official at&t store and get it credited BUT if the reps pull up your account and see that you've flagged and warned, your request will be denied.
if you don't have the right iphone plan but haven't received a text warning you about it, there's a good chance snooper haven't noticed it and consider yourself lucky.

the thing is that most people who use an iphone without a data plan turns off edge so they wouldn't accrue any data charges anyway. they only use their wifi. the bigger question is, would they add the data plan to your bill if they can detect you are using an iphone.

 

[elfenlied102938]

I wonder if I can go under the radar just for the last day by transferring my SIM card to a goPhone (which I've verified working), tricking AT&T's watchdog software (snooper?) and switching the SIM card back in the very next day .

I'm going to try this and let you guys know.

 

[chstr]

the thing is that most people who use an iphone without a data plan turns off edge so they wouldn't accrue any data charges anyway. they only use their wifi. the bigger question is, would they add the data plan to your bill if they can detect you are using an iphone.

no becasue they can't legally add services without you asking for it. they don't care if you don't have a data plan anyway, they only care if you are using their data plan at a cheaper rate

 

[illidian]

Sounds like they're going to put a WIX block on people. Hell, many of them would like that!

 

[goosnarrggh]

no becasue they can't legally add services without you asking for it. they don't care if you don't have a data plan anyway, they only care if you are using their data plan at a cheaper rate

Yes, AT&T does have the ability to add a data plan to any account running with an iPhone (and more recently with other Smartphones), without the customer ever asking for it, because they preemptively obtained every postpaid customer's consent to do so as part of the contract they have all signed.

However, it looks like AT&T might actually be nice about it, and simply apply a WIX block to such customers - taking away the option of accessing any pay-per-use data, or any other data at all, unless and until the customer opted for the eligible smartphone data plan. Which would probably be a perfectly acceptable compromise for most of the people who hadn't added (or who had intentionally taken away) the eligible data plan in the first place.

 

[ViViDboarder]

that's weird how they would say "interruption of your data service" when clearly the message was sent because you didn't have a data service -___-
well i just checked my at&t bill and i don't own an iphone (yet) but it even says this:



so i'm still somewhat skeptical.

I guess they are referring to the fact that you may be on the MEdia Net data plan or a data plan that may not be unlimited. They just want to make sure that gets sorted out I suppose so people don't complain about loss of data service.

 

[sunnysideup]

so today is sept 14...anything new?

 

[TheCheapGeek]

I am simply an observer here but it looks to me that all they are trying to prevent is users using other data plans for the iPhone. It seems that the lack of a data plan is going to be allowed, possibly?

 

[obievil]

I don't think that AT&T cares that your Phone is JB. I think they only care that you are not giving them more money,

 

[sunnysideup]

well as long as they don't automatically add the data plan, then we're pretty much good to go.

 

[Pr.TOSHIBA]

Other iPhone

I got a txt from AT&T saying "AT&T Free Msg: Your iPhone account needs to be updated! Your data service, including email and web, will no longer work unless you have the required iPhone data plan. Please dial 611 right away to add the data plan. We appreciate your business." I don't mind that butI hope that AT&T doesn't cancel data for everyone on my plan cuz a family member on my plan has the actual unlimited iPhone plan for work. I don't want to ruin it for him.

 

[siliconhybrid]

today is Sept 14, any update guys?

 

[AaronE]

I got the same message on August 18th and then tonight I got the one from above. I doubt it's anything to be too concerned about for now anyway.

 

[chstr]

Yes, AT&T does have the ability to add a data plan to any account running with an iPhone (and more recently with other Smartphones), without the customer ever asking for it, because they preemptively obtained every postpaid customer's consent to do so as part of the contract they have all signed.

However, it looks like AT&T might actually be nice about it, and simply apply a WIX block to such customers - taking away the option of accessing any pay-per-use data, or any other data at all, unless and until the customer opted for the eligible smartphone data plan. Which would probably be a perfectly acceptable compromise for most of the people who hadn't added (or who had intentionally taken away) the eligible data plan in the first place.

source? show me the paper trail that says they have the right to add options after THEY remove it>?

 

[elfenlied102938]

I got the following message in my email (not via text):
_________________________
Thank you for choosing AT&T!

This e-mail is to confirm and explain recent changes you made to your wireless account. In your Customer Service Summary CSS you will find:

* An outline of your services
* Your calling plan
* An estimate of your future bill
* General account information

To access your Customer Service Summary CSS click here to login/register for MyWireless

Note: If your CSS does not display, make sure you have Adobe Acrobat® Reader®. Download Acrobat Reader for free.

For additional information, check our Customer Service and Support sections.

For information about your device click here

The terms of your service are in your wireless service agreement and the applicable Terms of Service and rate plan and features brochures. To access AT&T's current service terms, click here.

And thanks again for choosing AT&T.

Sincerely,
AT&T
_________________________


I followed the CSS link and checked my account, and the phone is listed in the PDF as "Motorola L2", which used to be my phone 2 years ago. If I check online (not thru CSS PDF), the phone I have is back to iPhone - I guess they changed it to L2 when they processed the CSS, but as soon as I made a call the online system automatically changed it back to the iPhone.

So far there seems nothing is changed with my rate plan (still $39.99) - they didn't add anything new (despite the CSS notice)...I guess I'll just shut up and be quiet

 

[goosnarrggh]

source?

From their terms of service:

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/plan-terms.jsp#iPhone

Note that the paper contract you signed states that the terms and conditions can be amended from time to time, and your continued use of the service, after you are notified about the changes, constitutes your acceptance of the new terms. The version of the terms of service that appears on AT&T's website is the version that is currently in force for all customers no matter when they signed up or what phone they were using at the time.

Data Plans: An eligible data plan is required for certain devices including iPhone and other designated Smartphones and PDA's. Eligible data plans cover data usage in the U.S. and do not cover international data usage and charges. If it is determined that you are using iPhone or other designated Smartphone or PDA without an eligible data plan, AT&T reserves the right to add an eligible data plan to your account and bill you the appropriate monthly fee. Use of iPhone 3G to access corporate email, company intranet sites, and/or other business applications requires an Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone. For applicable rates, terms and conditions, see AT&T Business Plans for iPhone 3G brochure.

show me the paper trail that says they have the right to add options after THEY remove it>?

The contract doesn't make any distinctions about the circumstances under which this policy applies. So it follows that it applies in all circumstances, no matter how it may be that you end up without a data plan, even if they had been the ones that had previously removed it.

 

[ViViDboarder]

From their terms of service:

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/plan-terms.jsp#iPhone



The contract doesn't make any distinctions about the circumstances under which this policy applies. So it follows that it applies in all circumstances, no matter how it may be that you end up without a data plan, even if they had been the ones that had previously removed it.

Wow... So how many of you are about to switch to T-Mobile?

Can't wait for my contract to be up and I can take a look at the Magic on Sprint with that $70 unlimited everything plan. Then there'd be no messing around with all this.

Hopefully Sprints move makes AT&T retaliate and create a better plan for the iPhone. I won't hold my breath though... How long did it take them to come up with A-List?

 

[michael.lauden]

I don't think that AT&T cares that your Phone is JB. I think they only care that you are not giving them more money,

+1, i don't think AT&T can distribute your information to Apple either, that'd be like them sending Nokia user's private information to Nokia

 

[MultiFinder17]

Just to throw a wrench in the works here, I have an interesting situation. I have had my first-gen iPhone on an official iPhone plan ($60 per month, 450 minutes, iPhone data package) for a good bit over a year now, happily being used in my original iPhone. About a month ago, I bought a 3G from my friend who had upgraded to the 3GS on iDay3. I jailbroke and unlocked it, and popped my sim in it. Online, my phone shows up as an iPhone 3G, but they have yet to send me any messages about it. Perhaps they simply see some kind of iPhone using some kind of iPhone data package and aren't questioning it? Either way, I don't mind so long as they don't mind

On a fun side note, even though my plan is only for EDGE data, I still get 3G just peachily

 

[SpaceKitty]

On a fun side note, even though my plan is only for EDGE data, I still get 3G just peachily

Of course. All anyone needs, even on a cheap GoPhone plan, to get 3G service is to have a 3G phone.

 

[lemonade-maker]

Provider can query for apps on the host side at will using several methods. Probably easiest for the provider is to look for known info.plist changes. Any that are out of whack get looked into further.

How does AT&T know that someone has a jailbroken iPhone? Is this through the IMEI?

What can one do without having to pay for an unwanted and overpriced data plan, but still be on AT&T?

 

[goosnarrggh]

Provider can query for apps on the host side at will using several methods. Probably easiest for the provider is to look for known info.plist changes. Any that are out of whack get looked into further.

Are any actual files in the iPhone's filesystem directly exposed for the outside world to inspect? I would have expected there to be a reasonable degree of firewalling between the "application space" and the set of unsolicited data that can be queried from an outside entity via the GSM radio.

 

[sunnysideup]

wait i'm so confused now...

anyone (or heard of anyone) that actually got the data plan added without their consent since sept 14?

 

[Dominat0r]

they not adding it to your account....they are blocking all data if you dont have the proper data plan.

Ive heard some people getting a SMS message saying that the data is now blocked, must call 611.