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FCC fines largest wireless carriers for sharing location data

docs.fcc.gov

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Re: FCC fines largest wireless carriers for sharing location data

#41

Post by kstrauser »

beretguy wrote: post #30
kstrauser wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The total fine seems to be $200M, so maybe a buck a person. That’s still a whole lot more than their previous fine of $0.00 for it. Now we have a precedent.

So, we improved from fining $0 to $1.

Correct, and imagine the amount of work it took to make that possible at all. If you build a car factory, you're not going to make a whole lot of net profit off the first one you sell. It's way easier to make car #2 after you have everything in place to make car #1. Given the size and complexity of the organizations involved in this fine, that may actually be a reasonable analogy. I'd bet person-years of work went into making it happen, and that a lot of that could be dusted off and re-used if the FCC wanted to do it again.

Re: FCC fines largest wireless carriers for sharing location data

#42

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

bluGill wrote: post #26
moshun wrote: post #13

This was not a fine. It was a below the line operating cost.

It was a first time warning. If they don't reform they can get hit with repeated fines that are larger.

Fining them after several years of the bad behavior doesn't un-share the data, which means even the "first time warning" should be painful enough so that they don't chance it next time.

If the fines are cheap, companies have every motivation to try and see if they get away with shady or even knowingly illegal behavior - if not, the fine won't hurt too much and if yes, free profit.

If the fines hurt even the first time, there's a much bigger motivation to actually comply with the law from the start.

Re: FCC fines largest wireless carriers for sharing location data

#45

Post by throwitaway222 »

bluGill wrote: post #26
moshun wrote: post #13

This was not a fine. It was a below the line operating cost.

It was a first time warning. If they don't reform they can get hit with repeated fines that are larger.

That was what I was going to say. You can't fine them $8B if the precedent wasn't set yet.

Re: FCC fines largest wireless carriers for sharing location data

#46

Post by [deleted] »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #42
bluGill wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was a first time warning. If they don't reform they can get hit with repeated fines that are larger.

Fining them after several years of the bad behavior doesn't un-share the data, which means even the "first time warning" should be painful enough so that they don't chance it next time. If the fines are cheap, companies have every motivation to try and see if they get away with shady or even knowingly illegal behavior - if not, the fine won't hurt too much and if yes, free profit. If the fines hurt even the first tim…

[deleted]

Re: FCC fines largest wireless carriers for sharing location data

#47

Post by themaninthedark »

jahrichie wrote: post #8

Did they ever fine anyone over AT&T letting NSA tap into all decrypted network data, cause that seems a lot more egregious lol. https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/25/nsa-att-intercept-surveill...

No, for that there was bi-partisan support for retroactive immunity....

Re: FCC fines largest wireless carriers for sharing location data

#48

Post by dotnet00 »

sumtechguy wrote: post #37
issafram wrote: post #27

Drop in an ocean. Should've done 5% of annual revenue. That would send a much bigger message.

perhaps. but guess who gets to pay that fine? it sure will not be phone companies. it will be in your next bill.

That excuse can be used for all violations of regulations, and thus quickly becomes somewhat unreasonable. Particularly since the question being asked is the theoretical of if the prices would not increase by the same percent if the fine was not levied (eg "due to inflation").

Re: FCC fines largest wireless carriers for sharing location data

#50

Post by kronk »

mysteria wrote: post #22

The bigger question is whether the fine was less than the amount they made selling the location data.

I feel that up to a point the fines do little in the grand scheme of things, as they will pass the expense of the fines on to us, the consumer.
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