New FCC Commissioner: Hey, Maybe Somebody In Government Could Address These Wireless Location Data Scandals?

New FCC Commissioner: Hey, Maybe Somebody In Government Could Address These Wireless Location Data Scandals?

5 years ago
Anonymous $syBn1NGQOq

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190403/08023041929/new-fcc-commissioner-hey-maybe-somebody-government-could-address-these-wireless-location-data-scandals.shtml

We've noted a few times now that while Facebook gets a lot of justified heat for its privacy scandals, the stuff going on in the cellular data and app market in regards to location data makes many of Facebook's privacy issues seem like a grade-school picnic. That's something that was pretty well highlighted by the recent Securus and LocationSmart scandals, which showcased perfectly how cellular carriers and location data brokers routinely buy and sell your daily travel habits with only a fleeting effort to ensure all of the subsequent buyers and sellers of that data adhere to basic privacy and security standards.

That was again exemplified by reports on how this data often winds up in the hands of bounty hunters, and can often include 911 location data that's supposed to be protected by law.