Major Carriers Tell Rosenworcel No Longer Selling Location Data
The major national wireless carriers told FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel they are no longer selling location information from customers. Rosenworcel posted letters she had received from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, in response to her questions. “The FCC has been…
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totally silent about press reports that for a few hundred dollars shady middlemen can sell your location within a few hundred meters based on your wireless phone data,” Rosenworcel said Thursday. “That’s unacceptable. I don’t recall consenting to this surveillance when I signed up for wireless service -- and I bet neither do you.” Sprint is “currently only using one location aggregator to provide [location-based service] to two customers with a public interest -- a provider of roadside assistance for Sprint customers, and a provider that facilitates compliance with state requirements for a lottery that funds state government,” the carrier said. The others reported they’re out of or exiting the business. “Except for four roadside assistance companies, Verizon terminated its location aggregator program in November of 2018,” the provider said: “Verizon terminated the arrangements with the four remaining companies at the end of March 2019.” Rosenworcel said the public deserves answers. “It is chilling to think what a black market for this data could mean in the hands of criminals, stalkers, and those who wish to do us harm,” she said.