@JenniferH_VZW
Jennifer,
I appreciate you making the attempt to update us. I have been in discussion with Verizon for a couple of months and this has been the party line. Verizon started telling people on forums.crackberry.com to "upgrade" to a different phone to resolve the problem. Over my discussions Verizon Executive Relations has claimed:
* The problem was my phone and I'm behind in available patches -- false
* They never received any patches from Blackberry -- false
* Blackberry has no patches -- false
and my favorite...
* Since the phone can make and receive calls and texts, then Verizon doesn't need to do anything else.
and a host of other silly comments. Every other carrier has no issue keeping the Priv up to date. In this Verizon stands alone with 221 vulnerabilities many listed in NIST as level 5+ left unpatched.
I have an official statement from Blackberry that they have been sending patches to Verizon at the same time that they send patches to the other carriers.
Now, let's talk about vulnerability patches. Google makes sure that the kernel can be universally patched across all of their Android customers. These patches should in no way affect the operation of the phone unless Verizon is mucking with the kernel. Blackberry does harden the kernel and therefore does need to test this before shipping to you. If Verizon was making changes in the kernel then Blackberry's DTEK technology would have flagged the kernel as compromised. The only difference between a Verizon Priv and all other Privs is the radio module. Since the hardware is fixed, this means that the only changes that would only affect Verizon phones would be the radio drivers. Having written such drivers for specialized military SDR phones, Verizon is taking an exorbitant amount of time.
The bottom line which no one in Verizon has refuted is that Blackberry isn't a priority and there isn't anyone working on supporting it's software. I've asked that question several times and all I've gotten was, "that information is proprietary". The FCC agent I'm working with is upset with Verizon's responses.
They are trying to herd us into Icrap or Samsung. I really don't know what verizon beef with BlackBerry is but just not releasing updates and then saying it's BlackBerry fault is just low. I'm still with Verizon because they are the only carrier in my area that has the phone I want. If they continue to blacklist the phones I want and make excuses I can always go to another carrier. They have iphones and Samsung there too. I bought my priv for the BlackBerry experience and the extra security whether I need it or not. Verizon not doing the security updates or giving us marshmallow when all their competitors have just tells me they don't care about me.
As long as the phone makes and receives calls texts and does what its supposed to do, Verizon is NOT obligated to do anything else. I'm curious as to how you can refute all of their statements as being false when you don't work for Verizon, Blackberry, or Google. If what you "think" you know is law, simply switch carriers. Its a free market nowadays where other carriers pay off your current contract or payment plan via bill credits.
If your dishwasher cleans dishes, but sounds like a B-52 on takeoff that would be okay with you too? How about if a brake manufacturer finds that it's brake lines may rupture in normal use and provides an update, but Ford decides not to fix it? Verizon dropped support of a phone only 4 months after it was made available. In addition they charged a premium for that phone ($20 higher than the highest price from any carrier).
Blackberry has been making timely patches:
What Makes BlackBerry More Secure? Part 1: Rapid Patching | Inside BlackBerry
Search Results | BlackBerry Knowledge Base
Patch levels by carrier:
Reload BlackBerry Priv OS - Global
Note that Verizon is AAF055 and AT&T is at AAG202!
I have 10s of pages of documentation supporting my claim that are now in the hands of the FCC, FTC, and my state's Attorney General. I don't think that Verizon wants me to air all their dirty laundry in this forum so I'll refrain.
As for my credentials... I have degrees in electrical engineering, computer science, and biomedical engineering with a lot of experience in hardware, firmware, and software under my belt. I have consulted for companies like Qualcomm, Broadcom, Samsung, Apple, RCA, Marconi, AT&T, Intersil, Harris, and several more.
A couple of examples (there are many more). I have designed wireless protocol prefix detection SDR (software defined radio) circuits for the military, and created the "7 sister" chipset for Marconi's communication system. When Verizon killed the WebOS phones, I created custom bootloaders to keep customer's Pre Plus, Franken-Pre 2 (the radio from a Verizon Pre-Plus married with an AT&T Pre-2), and several Pre-3 up to the latest revisions of WebOS (and removing the Verizon bloatware in the process). I personally ran these phones on Verizon for many years without a single problem and there are others still happily using these phones today.
As for switching carriers, I expect that I will do this after I've completed my quest. I consider this to be a noble endeavor that I need to see through to it's ultimate conclusion. I have garnered a lot of followers and there is a new slew of FCC complaints about this situation. Based upon my personal phone conversations with my FCC agent, they are watching Verizon intently on this issue.
I may not know of the details of Verizon's contract with Blackberry, but I do know that Verizon is ethically and morally wrong in this situation. I would assume that AT&T's contract has similar terms as Verizon's and they don't have an issue keeping the phone secure.
Verizon is opening their customers to vulnerabilities that can ultimately:
* Allow personal data to be stolen, promoting exploitation and possibly identity theft.
* Allow the phone to be compromised causing it to malfunction. Possible scenarios are bot insertion that will eat up customer's data limits and put a strain on Verizon's network (DDOS), or possibly brick the phone.
* Prevent fixes that will increase performance and battery life (the Priv does overheat occasionally and this has been fixed by every vendor but Verizon).
Class action law-suit anyone? I absolutely love how it is a completely different excuse every time you call to get an update, which we have to do because Verizon doesn't take the initiative to follow-up with their customers.
ggendel - Thank you for all of your research and knowledge.
Yeah, ok.
The FCC does not allow class action lawsuits.
Actually, you're wrong. The FCC doesn't care. It's Verizon that set this up.
Your contract with Verizon contains an arbitration clause with a class action waiver provision that prohibits you from bringing a class action lawsuit against Verizon. Sound unfair? It is.
The U.S. Supreme Court's June 13, 2013 opinion in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, ruled that corporations can use the fine print of contracts to grant themselves a license to steal and violate the law.
As the Association for American Justice stated in the aftermath of the Supreme court's decision: “It is imperative that Congress and federal agencies act to protect individuals and small businesses from the abusive practice of forced arbitration. Without Congressional action, all federal and state civil rights, employment, antitrust, and consumer protections are at risk of being wiped away by the fine print.”
The only thing you and other consumers can do is put pressure on your Congressmen to pass legislation prohibiting class action waivers in arbitration clauses.
So you seemingly have all the answers and feel you are correct, so why are you you here looking for assistance? Or is it recruiting people to agree with you?
You've made two replies to my posts, both trying to disparage what I've said. Sorry if facts get in the way of your flame-bait.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
