T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T say they will appeal against ‘excessive’ fines meted out by US regulator
The Federal Communications Commission on Monday fined the largest US wireless carriers nearly $200m for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information.
The FCC is finalizing fines first proposed in February 2020, including $80m for T-Mobile; $12m for Sprint, which T-Mobile has since acquired; $57m for AT&T, and nearly $47m for Verizon.
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”, the FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.
A very gentle, soft, playful slap.on the wrist. The court is letting them know it’s OK to do as long as they pay a small tax on it if they are caught. Definitely still worth it.