News that AT&T and Verizon had been secretly injecting supercookies that invade customer privacy made many users think twice about their cellular provider. On Friday, AT&T Mobility confirmed that the tracking program had been removed.

AT&T is one of the largest cellular providers of the United States. It provides services to more than one hundred million subscribers.

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AT&T used these internet tracking codes in the smartphones known as "supercookies". Like web cookies, supercookies store information about the users and keep track of their movements. Web cookies are often optional.

Unlike cookies, supercookies are not optional. They cannot be turned off and most users did not even know that they could be tracked. Even if the users wanted to, no option in the settings allow the user to remove the trackers.

Supercookies are sent in the form of hidden letters and numbers. These are unique identifiers that allows people to be tracked using their names or phone numbers. AT&T finally removed the program and the trackers.

Tests run by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) confirmed that the program is now removed from AT&T users. This means Verizon is currently the only US cellular provider using the tracking program that invades user privacy.

AT&T and Verizon started using this tracking mechanism to develop their advertisement programs. However, the mechanism had been invasive for users as it may allow any website they visit access to their unique identification details.

If Verizon does not stop the header program immediately, the carrier may be facing charges for violation of the federal law, which protects customer privacy.

Users have been more concerned of their security and protecting their digital information after revelations that the US government had access to communication records of millions of Americans for years.

This massive surveillance had been possible through the help of large telecommunication carriers including AT&T and Verizon.

TagsAT&T, verizon, supercookies, trackers