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2h ago

D.C. Circuit Upholds FCC Location Data Fines Against T-Mobile and Sprint

The ruling affirms the FCC's authority to treat real-time device location as protected customer information.

Court rules that the FCC lawfully fined T-Mobile over improper use of location data
A hand holding a T-Mobile phone emerges from the ground in an illustration of a hellish landscape in which zombies appear to be rising from the dead

Overview

  • A unanimous D.C. Circuit panel denied the carriers' petitions, leaving in place $80.1 million against T-Mobile and $12.2 million against Sprint.
  • Judges rejected the companies' narrow reading of the Communications Act and held that carrier-collected location qualifies as Customer Proprietary Network Information.
  • The court said the companies waived any Seventh Amendment jury-trial claim by paying the penalties and seeking direct appellate review.
  • The opinion recounted sales of real-time location through aggregators LocationSmart and Zumigo and cited misuse, including access tied to Securus, as aggravating.
  • AT&T's $57.3 million case is pending in the 5th Circuit and Verizon's $46.9 million case is pending in the 2nd Circuit, while T-Mobile says it ended the program years ago and is reviewing the decision.