FCC Confirms Wireless Carriers Broke Law Selling User Location Data
The FCC concludes that one or more wireless carriers illegally sell user location data to third-party brokers. Agency leadership promises impending fines for the unnamed companies involved.
The FCC confirms that one or more wireless carriers break federal law by collecting and selling user location data to third-party brokers. This conclusion comes more than a year after initial investigations reveal that this data ends up in the hands of bounty hunters and other dubious actors. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai shares this finding in a formal letter to Representative Frank Pallone.
Investigations show that the sold data includes highly sensitive information, such as detailed 911 emergency location data, which is strictly forbidden by U.S. law. Lawmakers express serious concern over the FCC's delayed response, noting that the agency takes no meaningful action throughout most of the previous year despite overwhelming evidence of privacy abuses.
Pai states that he plans to circulate Notices of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture to his fellow commissioners in the coming days, paving the way for official fines. However, other FCC commissioners criticize Pai for his slow response to the crisis, arguing that the prolonged delay allows continued harm to U.S. consumers and prevents timely accountability.