FCC Deadlock Shields Wireless Companies From Privacy Penalties

Cellphone carriers facing roughly $200 million in fines for sharing their customers’ locations are for now shielded from paying by the Federal Communications Commission’s partisan deadlock. The FCC has four commissioners—two Democrats and two Republicans—and needs at least three votes to move forward with fines it proposed years ago on the biggest wireless-service providers. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, in August circulated four forfeiture orders penalizing AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile US, and Verizon Communications for allegedly mishandling access to the real-time whereabouts of their subscribers, the people said. The commission hasn’t yet published the forfeiture orders. The FCC can’t issue the orders without approval from at least three commissioners. The two Democrats on the commission have voted to approve the fines, while their Republican counterparts have yet to vote.