But the real question you should be asking, is the pro-telecom FCC going to do anything about it?
Since Donald Trump took over the presidency and instilled former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai at the head of the organization, the FCC became a tool of telecoms. We saw net neutrality take a hit, favoring telecoms who could sell fast lanes and hurt small businesses. We saw the FCC lie about hacking claims to cover their tracks. Now we know telecoms are selling our location data. Will the FCC let them get away with it?
Privacy Stolen, Laws Broken
In May of 2018, the New York Times reported on a program using Securus Technologies. Jails and prisons used the services to track cellphone locations of those placing or receiving calls from inmates. Securus purchased the data from a variety of telecoms, collecting it and then selling it to the next party. They say they required official documentation for use, but the NY Times reporting showed it was possible for those outside of law enforcement. These systems are often abused, even by those within departments.
“I wish to inform you that the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has completed its extensive investigation and that it has concluded that one or more wireless carriers apparently violated federal law.”
– FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a letter to concerned politicians
The letter was in response to one from lawmakers in November of 2019, asking for details about this case. Was the FCC investigating? Would they protect consumers from dangerous and unregulated location tracking?
“We write regarding our growing concern that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is failing in its duty to enforce the laws Congress passed to protect consumers’ privacy. This Committee has repeatedly urged you to act quickly to protect consumers’ privacy interests, and unfortunately you have failed to do so.”
– From Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Democrats open letter to the FCC last year
Coming Consequences?
Though the FCC hasn’t inspired much consumer confidence, this is a rather extreme case. Companies were selling private information that should have been available to police organizations only. Instead, bounty hunters and potentially other private citizens had access to anyone’s location for a price. Even stalkers could get their hands on their targets’ data.
The FCC chairman Ajit Pai wrote a letter to New Jersey representative Frank Pallone and 11 other politicians. In it, he stated that the carriers might face fines, but went into no further detail. The FCC is the ruling body that decided that selling access to live consumer location data overstepped federal law, but hasn’t decided what a punishment would look like, if any. This is an extreme case, but the FCC, as it stands now, still heavily favors large telecom businesses like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Chances are, it’ll be a slap on the wrist, at worst.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has been outspoken about the direction of the commission since President Trump appointed Ajit Pai to head it. She has supported net neutrality, and argued against the lack of transparency into the commission’s investigation into the matter.
“For more than a year, the FCC was silent after news reports alerted us that for just a few hundred dollars, shady middlemen could sell your location within a few hundred meters based on your wireless phone data. It’s chilling to consider what a black market could do with this data. It puts the safety and privacy of every American with a wireless phone at risk.”
– Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC Commissioner
Commissioners often hold their positions through multiple presidencies, though the chairman can be appointed by a new president. It’s a sign that, perhaps soon, the FCC will return to a consumer-focused commission once again. Hopefully that’s before they codify laws that will hurt consumers for many years to come.
Sources:
- Karl Bode, Vice
- Mikey Campbell, AppleInsider
- Joseph Cox, Vice
- Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, The New York Times
- Stephen Warwick, Android Central
- Chris Welch, FCC