Court Upholds $46.9 Million Fine Against Verizon for Location Data Misuse

WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) – A federal appeals court upheld a $46.9 million fine imposed by the Federal Communications Commission on Verizon Communications for illegally sharing customers’ location data. The ruling came from a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.

The court rejected Verizon’s arguments, stating that the data involved qualifies as customer proprietary network information, which is protected under federal law. The case is part of a wider crackdown by the FCC that began in April 2024, which targeted major U.S. wireless carriers for mishandling sensitive customer information.

In all, the FCC fined the largest U.S. carriers nearly $200 million for similar violations. T-Mobile received an $80 million fine, Sprint was fined $12 million (before its acquisition by T-Mobile), and AT&T faced a $57 million penalty.

Former FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel highlighted concerns about the sale of real-time location data to data aggregators, which resulted in sensitive information being accessible to entities such as bounty hunters and bail-bond companies. At the time, she emphasized the risks posed to user privacy.

Verizon paid the fine but later filed a legal challenge against it. A spokesperson for Verizon did not provide an immediate comment following the court’s decision. Together, other major carriers have vowed to contest these fines.

In previous years, wireless carriers had permitted the use of location data for various services, including roadside assistance and emergency alerts. However, lawmakers expressed outrage in 2019 when it became known that user data could be purchased by third parties, including bounty hunters, without adequate consumer consent.

As of last year, the FCC stated that many carriers continued to utilize problematic programs even after being notified of unauthorized access, raising concerns about their commitment to consumer privacy.