FCC takes $200 million bite out of wireless carriers for sharing location data

The FCC levied nearly $200 million in fines against T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint after finding they sold customers’ real-time location data without explicit opt-in consent, outsourcing consent obligations to aggregators (LocationSmart and Zumigo) that resold the data to numerous third parties. Internal audits and a high-profile misuse incident drove scrutiny, and while carriers say these programs ended years ago and aided services like roadside assistance, they dispute the FCC’s findings and intend to appeal.