Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
- AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile have been fined a combined total of nearly $200 million for illegally selling your location data.
- These carriers shared your location information without your permission and even continued doing so after learning about unauthorized access.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken decisive action against AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, fining them nearly $200 million for illegally selling customer location data without proper consent. This marks the culmination of a long-running investigation that highlights the carriers’ disregard for privacy and accountability.
The FCC probe revealed a disturbing system where carriers initially sold location data to “aggregators.” These aggregators then resold the data to numerous third parties, including bounty hunters, credit card companies, and law enforcement.