en.Wedoany.com Reported - The U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals by AT&T and Verizon to overturn fines imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), upholding the agency's penalties of over $100 million for the carriers' improper handling of customer location data.

The FCC issued the penalties in 2024, based on reports dating back to 2018 that found AT&T and Verizon operated location-based service programs that sold customers' real-time location data to other service providers through third parties, without implementing adequate security measures for data access. One egregious incident involved Securus, a company providing location-finding services for law enforcement. Under regulations, officers were required to upload a search warrant or other legal authorization to access location data, but a sheriff in Missouri was found to have obtained the data by uploading unrelated documents.

To avoid the penalties, the carriers argued that the FCC's fine process violated their right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment. On appeal in the Fifth Circuit, the court ruled in favor of AT&T; while Verizon's appeal to the Second Circuit was dismissed, leading the U.S. Supreme Court to agree to hear the case. In an 8-1 ruling, the Supreme Court held that the FCC's forfeiture orders are not binding until the Department of Justice sues to collect them, at which point the carriers would receive a new trial by jury. Since the jury still has the final say before payment is compelled, the Court found no Seventh Amendment issue. The ruling means the FCC's enforcement structure remains intact, provided that the remedy of a jury trial is available.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the Court's opinion: "At bottom, the forfeiture order issued is merely the Commission's own determination. Its sole legal effect is to enable the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit to recover damages for the carriers' alleged violations."

Only Justice Clarence Thomas dissented. He agreed with the majority's constitutional framework but argued that the orders were coercive when issued, and that the carriers, having paid the fines in good faith under protest, should be entitled to relief. Justice Thomas wrote: "Today, the Court punishes AT&T and Verizon for complying with a government order they reasonably believed to be coercive, diligently preserving their objections to that order, and litigating those objections so effectively that the government changed its position years later."

Vaidotas Šedys, Chief Revenue Officer at Oxylabs, commented: "Companies handling sensitive data have a moral obligation to know their customers and partners. It is crucial for them to determine who they are dealing with and why those users need access in the first place. Missing a single bad actor can lead to significant financial and reputational damage."

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