Earlier this year there was a report published on Motherboard which revealed how cheap and easy it was to obtain the location data of a phone from various US carriers. Carriers such as AT&T and Sprint have since responded to the report in which they promised to end the sale of location data to third-parties.However, it seems that the fact that they were so readily available has raised some concerns, such as with FCC commission Geoffrey Starks who recently penned an op-ed on the New York Times in which he called for the crackdown on the sale of location data. According to Starks, he acknowledges that this is the job of the FCC to regulate and to prevent this from happening in the first place, but yet nothing concrete has been done.
“The F.C.C. says it is investigating. But nearly a year after the news first broke, the commission has yet to issue an enforcement action or fine those responsible.” He adds, “The agency’s inaction despite these increasingly troubling reports speaks volumes and leaves our duty to the public unfulfilled. The F.C.C. must use its authority to protect consumers and promote public safety, and act swiftly and decisively to stop illegal and dangerous pay-to-track practices once and for all.”
According to Starks, he also notes that the FCC only has one year to take action against wrongdoers before the statute of limitations runs out, and this is why he is urgently calling upon his agency to take action before it is too late, but it remains to be seen if anything will happen as a result of his letter.