FCC Fines US Wireless Carriers Nearly $200 Million Over Illegal Location Data Sharing

Several of the nation’s largest cellphone carriers have been collectively fined $200 million by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for illegally sharing access to customer location data without consent and failing to protect that information from unauthorized disclosures.

In an April 29 press release, the FCC said that T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon violated the Communications Act when they sold customers’ location data without consent and continued to do so even after being informed of the violations.

The Communications Act ensures customer privacy. A section prohibits carriers from disclosing customer information except as required by law or with the individual’s permission. These obligations also apply when carriers share customer information with third parties.

According to the FCC, AT&T has been fined more than $57 million and Verizon has been hit with almost $47 million in fines. Sprint and T-Mobile, which have merged since the investigation began, are facing fines of more than $12 million and $80 million respectively.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said these carriers all failed in their fundamental duty required by law to protect customers’ data.

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