Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile will stop selling your location information to data brokers
Major US cell-phone carriers say they're cutting off companies that buy consumers' real-time location details—a move that comes after a customer (of a customer) of one such company apparently shared people's data without first getting their permission.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes: On Tuesday, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint said they'd stop working with two data brokers, LocationSmart and Zumigo. Shortly after that, T-Mobile CEO John Legere tweeted that the wireless carrier won't sell customers' location information to "shady middlemen," though he didn't elaborate about which companies he was referring to.
The background: In May, the New York Times reported that Securus Technologies, a company that monitors prison calls, offered a service that law enforcement officials could use to track people's locations via their cell phones, without having a court order. That's a big no-no.
Where did it get that data? The data Securus used reportedly came from another company, 3Cinteractive, which snagged it from LocationSmart (which has historically gotten data from the wireless carriers). That month, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote a letter to the US Federal Communications Commission, asking it to investigate the wireless carriers in light of Securus's actions.
What now? The carriers won't necessarily end their deals with these companies immediately; AT&T, for instance, said it will do so "as soon as practical" while keeping up services such as emergency roadside assistance.
Deep Dive
Policy
What happened to the microfinance organization Kiva?
A group of strikers argue that the organization seems more focused on making money than creating change. Are they right?
How one elite university is approaching ChatGPT this school year
Why Yale never considered banning the technology.
Six ways that AI could change politics
A new era of AI-powered domestic politics may be coming. Watch for these milestones to know when it’s arrived.
Cryptography may offer a solution to the massive AI-labeling problem
An internet protocol called C2PA adds a “nutrition label” to images, video, and audio.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.