FCC Wants to Know if US Carriers Are Exposing Users' Geolocation Data
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is investigating how US mobile carriers collect, store, and safeguard geolocation information taken from customers' smartphones.
Rosenworcel sent(Opens in a new window) letters to the top 15 mobile carriers in the US, including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, asking questions about their data-retention policies, including how the information is shared with law enforcement and if the same sharing occurs with third parties.
“Our phones know our location at any given moment. This geolocation data is especially sensitive,” Rosenworcel tweeted(Opens in a new window) on Tuesday. “It's a record of where we've been and who we are. It's why the FCC took action today to probe the data privacy practices of mobile carriers.”
The inquiry comes as Democrats have voiced concern about certain states potentially going after women seeking abortions following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. A key worry revolves around tech companies offering up people’s search history, app usage, and geolocation information to prosecutors wielding subpoena power.
In response, President Biden recently urged the Federal Trade Commission to take steps to protect user privacy when seeking information about reproductive health care services.
Rosenworcel’s inquiry announcement steers clear of mentioning Roe v. Wade or reproductive health services. Nevertheless, her letters to the carriers points out they’re “uniquely situated to capture a trove of data about their own subscribers, including the subscriber’s actual identity and personal characteristics, geolocation data, app usage, and web browsing data and habits.”
The effort also represents a follow-up to the FCC’s 2020 decision to collectively fine the top US carriers $200
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