FCC fines US wireless carriers over illegal location data sharing

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday fined the largest U.S. wireless carriers nearly $200 million for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information.

The FCC is finalizing fines first proposed in February 2020, including $80 million for T-Mobile, $12 million for Sprint, which T-Mobile has since acquired; $57 million for AT&T (T.N), opens new tab, and nearly $47 million for Verizon Communications (VZ.N).

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.

The wireless carriers said they plan to challenge the fines.

Carriers have allowed the use of location-data for programs like roadside assistance, logistics, medical emergency alert services, human trafficking alerts and fraud prevention.