Ajit Pai gives carriers free pass on privacy violations during FCC shutdown

Enlarge / FCC Chairman Ajit Pai with his oversized coffee mug in November 2017. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai refused a Democratic lawmaker's request to immediately address a privacy scandal involving wireless carriers, saying that it can wait until after the government shutdown is over.

A Motherboard investigation published last week found that T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T are still selling their mobile customers' real-time location information to third-party data brokers, despite promises in June 2018 to stop the controversial practice.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) asked Pai for an "emergency briefing" to explain why the FCC "has yet to end wireless carriers' unauthorized disclosure of consumers' real-time location data," and for an update on "what actions the FCC has taken to address this issue to date."

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