Verizon claimed the privacy rules in Section 222 of the Communications Act cover only call-location data, and not device-location data. The 2nd Circuit disagreed, pointing to the law\u2019s text stating that Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) includes data that is related to the location of a telecommunications service, and which is made available to the carrier \u201csolely by virtue of the carrier-customer relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt thus qualifies as customer proprietary network information and triggers the privacy protections set forth in \u00a7 222 of the Communications Act,\u201d the ruling said.<\/p>\n
The 2nd Circuit ruling described how Verizon sold location data to two aggregators, LocationSmart and Zumigo, \u201cwhich in turn contracted with 63 third-party entities.\u201d News reporting showed that Securus Technologies misused the program to let law enforcement officers access location data, and a Missouri sheriff \u201cwas able to access customer data with no legal process at all,\u201d the ruling said.<\/p>\n
The major carriers have said they discontinued the data-sharing programs the fines related to, but still claim the fines were illegal. AT&T and T-Mobile still have hopes of getting rulings that would invalidate their fines.<\/p>\n
T-Mobile asked the Supreme Court to find that the location information protected under the law \u201crefers only to call-location information, not other information about the location of a mobile device.\u201d<\/p>\n