FCC Says Wireless Location Data Sharing Broke the Law

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai told lawmakers Friday he intends to propose fines against at least one U.S. wireless carrier for sharing customers' real-time location data with outside parties without the subscribers' knowledge or consent. From a report: The FCC has been investigating for more than a year following revelations that subscriber location data from AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint made its way to a resale market used by bounty hunters. Pai said in letters to several lawmakers that the agency's investigation has found that "one or more wireless carriers apparently violated federal law."

Re:

[Aighearach]

"AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint"

can't wait to sue ATT

[awwshit]

I can't wait until the FCC declares this a violation of the law, I'm going to sue ATT and win.

Re:

[Narcocide]

Yes, indeed, I too look forward to the $0.49 cash payout from the class-action lawsuit for ruining my entire life. That'll totally be worth it.

Yeah, right

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, like Ajit Pai-hole is going to actually ask telecoms to forfeit money. Sure he is. He'll declare that anytime telcos do something illegal the FCC has to pay them.

And then there are facts

[raymorris]

I get it you enjoy listening to some late night comedian bash conservatives that's cool. The FCC actually does enforcement actions pretty much daily. For example, last month they did at least 20 citations and orders for open internet violations.

Re:

[fafalone]

Ajit Pai is a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon, and they seem to have stayed out of this scandal. So the FCC might actually do something, as Pai's masters would benefit from all their major competition getting a good hard smack.

Sanity? In MY Ajit Pai?

[BAReFO0t]

What, did he almost leak his Trump porn?

Funny, how anti-privacy regimes become pro-privacy all of a sudden, when itâ(TM)s their sick shit that's at risk of leaking.

Re:

[Can'tNot]

Is this sanity? Which law did they break? Certainly not this one [nbcnews.com]. There haven't been any subsequent efforts to protect peoples' privacy, so Pai must be counting on a tangential law to do this. Something old and not explicitly related, which won't threaten the information market in any meaningful way.

Looks like his new job will be at Verizon

[bobstreo]

Since he's burning his bridges with the others.

No mention of Verizon

[phalse phace]

Verizon also shared user location data

https://www.wired.com/story/carriers-sell-location-data-third-parties-privacy/

Location data is some of the most sensitive, and sought after, information that smartphones generate. And wireless providers are in a unique position to access it all the time. But a Tuesday report from Motherboard shows that carriers don't protect this deeply private information as carefully as consumers might think—especially considering that Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T all pledged to stop selling it months ago.

Last May, US carriers were caught selling customer location data to all manner of third parties, from legitimate services like roadside assistance groups to data brokers who could resell the information to virtually anyone. It exposed a shadow economy, where your location information ends up in the hands of countless companies you've never heard of.

But there's no mention of them anywhere.

Must be nice having a former Verizon lawyer in charge of the FCC.

$1 fine

[sethmeisterg]

That should teach 'em!

In other words

[Snotnose]

At least 1 carrier didn't supply enough bribes, um, sorry. My bad, let's try again.

At least 1 carrier didn't offer a good enough job to this corrupt sack of shit.

There, much better.