FCC fines top US phone companies nearly $200 million for illegal customer location data sharing

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has imposed fines totaling nearly $200 million on four major US wireless carriers for the unauthorized sharing of customers' location data. AT&T faced a $57 million penalty, while Verizon was fined almost $47 million. T-Mobile and Sprint, now merged, were collectively fined $92 million.

The FCC's investigation, culminating in the fines originally proposed in February 2020, revealed that these carriers sold the sensitive location data to aggregators, who then allowed access to various location-based services without securing consumer consent. Following the FCC's announcement, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon have expressed intentions to appeal the fines, citing disagreements with the FCC's decision.

The fines aim to hold the companies accountable for compromising consumer privacy, although some, like Senator Ron Wyden, believe the penalties are insufficient.

Source: BUSINESS INSIDER