FCC fines big three carriers $196M for selling users’ real-time location data

The Federal Communications Commission today said it fined T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon $196 million “for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information without consent and without taking reasonable measures to protect that information against unauthorized disclosure.”

The fines relate to sharing of real-time location data that was revealed in 2018. The FCC proposed the fines in 2020, when the commission had a Republican majority, and finalized them today.

All three major carriers vowed to appeal the fines after they were announced today. The three carriers also said they discontinued the data-sharing programs that the fines relate to.

The fines are $80.1 million for T-Mobile, $57.3 million for AT&T, and $46.9 million for Verizon. T-Mobile is also on the hook for a $12.2 million fine issued to Sprint, which was bought by T-Mobile shortly after the penalties were proposed over four years ago.

Read more – Ars Technica: https://bit.ly/3UC6Eh7