Freedom Mobile is taking heat from customers after floating the idea of charging extra for what a lot of people consider basic account security.
The whole thing kicked off when a subscriber posted a question from an official Freedom Mobile survey on Reddit. The Quebecor-owned carrier asked how likely people would be to pay an extra $8 a month, on top of their current plan, for an “advanced security” tier. Based on the survey, that paid add-on would bundle together things like SIM swap protection, better account sign-in security, spam call detection, location privacy, and encrypted text messages and voicemail.
Here’s the text that was asked in the survey:
If these advanced security features were offered by Freedom Mobile at an additional cost of $8 per month (on top of your mobile service plan), how likely would you be to subscribe?*
(Advanced security features: Encrypted text messages and voicemail, spam call detection, SIM swap protection, improved account sign-in security, and location privacy)
The idea that this kind of protection might sit behind a paywall didn’t go over well. A lot of users argued that safeguards against identity theft, like blocking unauthorized SIM swaps and shoring up weak login systems, should just be part of the service, not a premium you pay monthly for.
Some subscribers took it a step further, saying that charging a fee to secure your account basically suggests the carrier is fine leaving unprotected accounts exposed in the first place. Others pointed out that rival carriers already fold these kinds of protections in at no extra cost.
To be fair, a few of the features in the survey, like encrypted voicemail, have long been treated as premium extras. But lumping basic account safety in with them is what rubbed people the wrong way. Several long-time customers said a “security tax” like this would be enough to push them to leave Freedom altogether.
Freedom Mobile’s online sign in process really needs a major overhaul. To sign in, users just need to enter their phone number, a 4-digit PIN, then the site will ask for a two-factor code sent to your email or phone number via text message. Leveraging one-time passcodes would be a way better feature here, or even Passkey support that leverages biometrics from your device (such as Face ID and Touch ID on Apple devices).
Now, before we jump to any conclusions, Freedom hasn’t actually announced any changes, and companies run surveys like this all the time just to test the waters on what people might pay for. But this time around, when Rogers, Telus and Bell aren’t asking customers to pay extra for basic security features, this just seems wrong. Hopefully Freedom hasn’t given the Big 3 some new ideas here (knock on wood).
We’ve reached out to Freedom Mobile for comment, and will update this story accordingly.
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