Washington, DC – The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has imposed fines totaling nearly $200 million on major carriers like AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon for illegally sharing customers’ location information without authorization.
The FCC’s decision follows a thorough four-year investigation into the carriers’ practices. In a statement issued in February 2020, the FCC warned the wireless providers that their actions of sharing customer location data were likely in violation of the law.
According to the FCC, the carriers sold access to customers’ location information to ‘aggregators,’ who then sold access to third-party location-based service providers without obtaining proper consent from the customers.
AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile were found to have shared customer location data with numerous third-party entities. In response to these findings, the FCC took action against the carriers for failing to protect customers’ information from unauthorized access.
The investigation was prompted by Senator Ron Wyden’s letter to the FCC, revealing how a company named Securus Technologies was selling location data of mobile customers to law enforcement officials without consent.
Following these revelations, the carriers pledged to cease sharing location data with third-party companies. However, subsequent reports showed that little had changed, with reporters demonstrating how easy it was to track a phone’s location through third-party services.
Senator Wyden commended the FCC’s actions, emphasizing the importance of holding companies accountable for jeopardizing customers’ privacy. The fines, though substantial, represent only a fraction of each carrier’s annual revenue.
The varying fine amounts were calculated based on the duration for which the carriers continued sharing customer location data illegally, as well as the number of active third-party agreements. AT&T and Verizon took over 300 days to end their data-sharing agreements, while T-Mobile and Sprint continued for a similar period before stopping.