Who I have the same questioned this topic

I was just told by Verizon tech support that some of the apps Verizon installed on my phone may be responsible for accessing my personal information, and distributing it to telemarketers. On the other hand, I have no way of accessing my personal information, other than by changing it. Furthermore, some of the apps on this phone cannot be removed -- an NFL app of some kind for example. I paid for the phone outright, but for all intents, Verizon still has exclusive access tothe internals.