FCC confirms carriers apparently broke the law by selling real-time customer locations

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has sent a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, stating that the commission’s Enforcement Bureau has found that US carriers “apparently” broke the law by selling the location data of their unknowing customers. “I am committed to ensuring that all entities subject to our jurisdiction comply with the Communications Act and the FCC’s rules, including those that protect consumers’ sensitive information, such as real-time location data,” Pai wrote.

The controversy originated with a Motherboard report that made clear just how negligent carriers including T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T had gotten with selling the real-time location of their wireless subscribers. That information could trickle down to bounty...

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