T-Mobile claimed selling location data without consent is legal—judges disagree

Carriers claimed selling data didn’t violate law

Instead of denying the allegations, the carriers argued that the FCC overstepped its authority. But the appeals court panel decided that the FCC acted properly:

Sprint and T-Mobile (collectively, “the Carriers”) now petition for our review. Neither denies what happened. Instead, they argue that the undisputed facts do not amount to a violation of the law. The Carriers also argue that the Commission misinterpreted the Communications Act, miscalculated the penalties, and violated the Seventh Amendment by not affording them a jury trial. Because the Carriers’ arguments lack merit, we deny the petitions for review.

The FCC fines included $80.1 million for T-Mobile and $12.2 million for Sprint. T-Mobile, which bought Sprint in 2020, reported service revenue of $17.4 billion and net income of $3.2 billion in the most recent quarter.

Although the FCC first proposed the fines in 2020, under Republican Chairman Ajit Pai, the 2024 vote to finalize the penalties was 3-2, with dissents from Republicans Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington. Carr is now chairman of the FCC.

T-Mobile told Ars today that it is “currently reviewing the court’s action” but did not provide further comment. The carrier could seek an en banc review in front of all the appeals court’s justices, or ask the Supreme Court to review the case. Meanwhile, AT&T is challenging its fine in the 5th Circuit appeals court while Verizon is challenging in the 2nd Circuit.

AT&T and Verizon were fined $57.3 million and $46.9 million, respectively. The FCC last year said the major carriers disclosed customer location information “without customer consent or other legal authorization to a Missouri Sheriff through a ‘location-finding service’ operated by Securus, a provider of communications services to correctional facilities, to track the location of numerous individuals.”