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.
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