FCC fines cell companies for allegedly selling customers' location information

  • 📰 10News
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 67 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 30%
  • Publisher: 50%

Malaysia News News

Malaysia Malaysia Latest News,Malaysia Malaysia Headlines

Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps company. Justin covers anything from politics to sports and entertainment.

The Federal Communications Commission fined the nation's largest cellphone carriers a combined $196 million for allegedly illegally sharing access to customers’ location information without consent.

The FCC said the carriers did not take"reasonable measures to protect that information against unauthorized disclosure." The four carriers facing fines are Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon. Sprint and T-Mobile have since merged and will face a collective fine of over $92 million. AT&T is being penalized over $57 million, while Verizon is facing a nearly $47 million fine.The FCC alleges that the carriers violated section 222 of the Communications Act, which requires cell providers to take reasonable measures to protect certain customer information.

“Our communications providers have access to some of the most sensitive information about us. These carriers failed to protect the information entrusted to them. Here, we are talking about some of the most sensitive data in their possession: customers’ real-time location information, revealing where they go and who they are,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

The FCC said it began investigating the companies after reports surfaced that customers' information was being divulged by carriers to a Missouri sheriff through a “location-finding service." Through that investigation, the FCC said it learned that the carriers sold location data to"aggregators," who the FCC said often resold this information.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 732. in MY
 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

Malaysia Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Malaysia Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Former National Enquirer publisher: Going after Trump opponents 'good for business'Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps company. Justin covers anything from politics to sports and entertainment.
Source: 10News - 🏆 732. / 50 Read more »