US Fines T-Mobile $60 Million, Its Largest Penalty Ever, Over Unauthorized Data Access (reuters.com) 12
The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) fined T-Mobile $60 million, its largest penalty ever, for failing to prevent and report unauthorized access to sensitive data tied to violations of a mitigation agreement from its 2020 merger with Sprint. "The size of the fine, and CFIUS's unprecedented decision to make it public, show the committee is taking a more muscular approach to enforcement as it seeks to deter future violations," reports Reuters. From the report: T-Mobile said in a statement that it experienced technical issues during its post-merger integration with Sprint that affected "information shared from a small number of law enforcement information requests." It stressed that the data never left the law enforcement community, was reported "in a timely manner" and was "quickly addressed." The failure of T-Mobile to report the incidents promptly delayed CFIUS' efforts to investigate and mitigate any potential harm to U.S. national security, they added, without providing further details. "The $60 million penalty announcement highlights the committee's commitment to ramping up CFIUS enforcement by holding companies accountable when they fail to comply with their obligations," one of the U.S. officials said, adding that transparency around enforcement actions incentivizes other companies to comply with their obligations.
which leak was this? (Score:3)
t-mo has had so many data breaches, it is difficult to tell which this one addresses. will more fines be on the way for their other hacks?
Re: (Score:3)
Sounds like this has nothing to do with any of those consumer data breaches. This was leaking info about them ratting out users to LEOs and TLOs.
Silly Citizen. Only government leaks matter.
Wow the spin on this thing... (Score:3)
Let's try this again, "Sprint punished with $60M fine for daring to defy the deep state and leak data revealing government domestic spying"
Meaningless (Score:2)
The fine is %0.02643 of their net worth. It's like getting a parking ticket in the overall scheme of things.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep, proverbial drop in the bucket. "a more muscular approach to enforcement" yeah, whatever, pockets get lined far more than this I'm sure.
Re: (Score:2)
Is that why they made us pay more? (Score:2)
I got hit by the more expensive guaranteed plan bs
T-Mobile is German (Score:3)
Given that this was a CFIUS prosecution, T-Mobile is a German-owned company, and the data stayed within law enforcement, I'd guess that T-Mobile handed over something sensitive to German authorities. Maybe user data, maybe details of surveillance operations.
sad (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Plutocrats won't allow that, they'll swiftboat any politician who implements real penalties.
Cellphones Normalized Privacy Oblitteration (Score:2)