AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Sprint Corp. were fined a total of $200 million by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information without their consent. According to an investigation carried out by the FCC, the carriers sold the information to "aggregator" companies, which then resold them to third-party location-based service providers. The FCC said the carriers also failed to take measures to protect the data from unauthorized access once they were aware the data could be misused.
"These carriers failed to protect the information entrusted to them. Here, we are talking about some of the most sensitive data in their possession: customers’ real-time location information, revealing where they go and who they are," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said.
