The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has levied a hefty fine of nearly $2暂无相关内容。暂无相关内容。 million on the four largest wireless carriers in the US– AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile (including its subsidiary Sprint) – for illegally sharing customers’ location data. This action, announced in February 2暂无相关内容。2暂无相关内容。 and finalized today, marks the culmination of a multi-year investigation that exposed a widespread practice with serious implications for user privacy.

Four years ago, the FCC initiated an investigation following allegations that major wireless carriers, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, had unlawfully shared customers’ geolocation data to “location aggregators” without their consent. This data, in turn, was passed onto their own third-party customers. The FCC alleges that this practice resulted in user location data falling “into the hands of bail-bond companies, bounty hunters, and other shadowy actors,” as stated by FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. And from the looks of it, the carriers, according to the investigation, failed to obtain explicit permission from their customers before sharing their location data.

The four wireless carriers at the center of the FCC’s investigation – AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile (including its subsidiary Sprint which merged in 2暂无相关内容。2暂无相关内容。) – represent the dominant players in the US mobile landscape. These companies currently control a vast majority of the market share. With their extensive network coverage, diverse service plans, and brand recognition, they cater to millions of American subscribers – which is why the findings of the investigation are all the more concerning. User location data is a highly sensitive piece of information, capable of revealing a detailed picture of an individual’s movements and routines. With this data in the hands of unauthorized third parties, users could potentially be tracked, stalked, or even targeted for scams or harassment.

罗森沃塞尔说：“我们的通信提供商可以接触到我们的一些最敏感信息。这些运营商未能保护委托给他们的信息。在这里，我们谈论的是他们手中一些最敏感的数据：客户的实时位置信息，揭示了他们去哪里以及他们是谁。随着我们解决这些案件——这些案件最初是由上届政府提出的——委员会仍然致力于使所有运营商负责，并确保他们作为这些最私人数据的管理者履行对客户的义务。”

In response to the investigation’s findings, the FCC imposed significant fines totaling $2暂无相关内容。暂无相关内容。 million on the four major wireless carriers. T-Mobile faced the highest penalty of $8暂无相关内容。 million, followed by AT&T with a financial penalty of $57 million. Next comes Verizon, which was hit with a fine of nearly $47 million, and is followed by Sprint and its fine of $12 million.

For their part, all four wireless carriers expressed their intention to appeal the FCC’s decision. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint denounced the fines as unjust and contested the legal and factual basis of the FCC’s findings. AT&T, in its statement, criticized the FCC order for “perversely punishing” them for supporting “life-saving location services.” Similarly, T-Mobile called the fine “excessive” and revealed that the program in question had been discontinued entirely over five years ago. The FCC decision “is wrong, and the fine is excessive. We intend to challenge it,” a spokesperson for T-Mobile commented on the matter.