The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has handed down fines totaling almost $200 million to major cell phone companies AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon for illegally sharing customer locations without their consent. This comes after an investigation was initiated in 2019 when authorities discovered that these companies were selling customer locations to third parties.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel criticized the companies for failing to protect sensitive customer information, stating that the real-time location data of customers is among the most sensitive information they possess. The FCC maintains that these companies are obligated by federal law to take reasonable steps to safeguard certain customer data.
AT&T, in response to the fines, expressed their disagreement with the FCC’s order, stating that it lacks legal and factual basis. They claim that they are being unfairly held responsible for another company’s violation of contractual requirements and are hopeful to appeal the order after completing a legal review.
T-Mobile received the largest fine of $80 million, followed by $57 million for AT&T, $47 million for Verizon, and $12 million for Sprint, which has since merged with T-Mobile.
The FCC has been active in recent months, also announcing the restoration of internet neutrality rules, calling for plans to prevent harassers from using car data, and requiring internet providers to display a label with a breakdown of rates and prices. Stay tuned for further developments.