FCC Plans to Fine AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile a Total of $200 Million for Making Consumers’ Real-Time Location Data Available to Third Parties

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is set to propose fining four major U.S. mobile phone companies at least $200 million in total for improperly disclosing some consumer real-time location data.

The FCC is expected to announce the proposed fines on AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, Sprint Corp and T-Mobile US Inc on Friday. The companies will be able to challenge the fines before they become final and the precise amount could change the sources said, but is expected to total just over $200 million.

Carriers have allowed the use of location-data for programs like roadside assistance, logistics, medical emergency alert services, human trafficking alerts and fraud prevention. Lawmakers last year expressed outrage that aggregators were able to buy user data from wireless carriers and sell “location-based services to a wide variety of companies” and others, including bounty hunters.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said in January it was a “shame” the FCC took so long to act on what she called reports that “shady middlemen could sell your location within a few hundred meters based on your wireless phone data.” She added, “It’s chilling to consider what a black market could do with this data.”