FCC fines Verizon, AT&T other major carriers nearly $200 million for sharing customer data2024-04-29 17:39 by DanielaTags: FCC, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile
The US government has issued millions of dollars in fines to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon after an investigation found the nation's top wireless carriers had illegally shared customers' personal data without their consent. The fines stem from allegations in 2020 by the Federal Communications Commission that for years, the companies had improperly shared users' geolocation histories to third parties, including to prisons, as part of their commercial programs. The carriers sold "real-time location information to data aggregators, allowing this highly sensitive data to wind up in the hands of bail-bond companies, bounty hunters, and other shady actors," FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. An investigation was launched after reports that the largest American wireless carriers disclosed customers' location information to a Missouri Sheriff through Securus' "location-finding service" without consent or legal authorization. Despite being informed of the unauthorized access, all four carriers continued to operate their programs without reasonable safeguards to ensure that location-based service providers with access to customers' location information obtained consent. The wireless carriers said they plan to challenge the fines. Read more -here-
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