A federal appeals court just rejected T-Mobile’s attempt to dodge $92 million in fines for selling customer location data without consent. 👏 The FCC fined T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon last year for leaking real-time location info to aggregators like LocationSmart and Zumigo. That data was later abused by bad actors, including law enforcement agencies buying access through third parties. 🤬
What’s striking is that the carriers didn’t deny what happened. Instead, they argued it wasn’t actually illegal under the Communications Act. Judges disagreed, calling their interpretation “strained” and labeling the conduct “egregious” since it continued even after abuses were exposed. This decision matters because it reinforces that location data is sensitive by default, not just when tied to a phone call. AT&T and Verizon’s cases are still in the courts, but the precedent here is clear: carriers can’t treat real-time customer location data as just another product to sell.
TL;DR
⚠️ T-Mobile, Verizon, & AT&T sold your data w/out consent!
🔐 $92M fine stands
🧑⚖️ Court calls conduct egregious
📂 AT&T & Verizon rulings next
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/t-mobile-claimed-selling-location-data-without-consent-is-legal-judges-disagree/
#Privacy #Telecom #DataSecurity #Regulation #security #cloud #infosec #cybersecurity
