Wireless Carriers Say They’ll Fight FCC on Fines Over Customer Location Data

Todd Shields
1 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- The top three US wireless providers vowed to fight fines totaling almost $200 million by regulators who said the carriers illegally shared customers’ location information.

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The Federal Communications Commission on Monday announced it had fined T-Mobile US Inc. $80 million and its Sprint unit $12 million, while also penalizing AT&T Inc. $57 million and Verizon Communications Inc. almost $47 million. The agency first proposed the fines in 2020 and has since heard responses from the companies.

“These carriers failed to protect the information entrusted to them,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “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.”

The FCC under Rosenworcel, a Democrat, has made data privacy and protection a priority. Areas of focus include data breaches, and vulnerabilities involving third-party vendors.

The carriers sold access to customer-location information to businesses that then sold it on to other parties, the FCC said.

T-Mobile said it had discontinued the practice. The FCC decision “is wrong, and the fine is excessive. We intend to challenge it,” a spokesperson said in an email.

An AT&T spokesperson said the FCC “unfairly holds us responsible for another company’s violation of our contractual requirements to obtain consent.” AT&T said it expects to appeal the order.

Verizon said it shut down the program after “one bad actor gained unauthorized access to information relating to a very small number of customers.” The company said it, too, plans to appeal.

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