2024 was a year chock-full of data breaches and privacy violations. Many new data privacy and cybersecurity regulations were introduced (and became effective), and regulators sent a strong message to businesses that privacy must be at the forefront of their strategy and goals and that robust security controls are required to protect employee and consumer
T-Mobile
T-Mobile’s $31.5 Million Data Protection and Cybersecurity Settlement with the FCC
This week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a data protection and cybersecurity settlement with T-Mobile, resolving the FCC’s investigations related to the data breaches suffered by T-Mobile that affected millions of consumers in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
As part of the settlement, T-Mobile has agreed to:
T-Mobile Sued for Data Breach of 37 Million Records
On January 22, 2023, T-Mobile was sued in federal court in California alleging negligence, unjust enrichment, breach of express contract, breach of implied contract, and invasion of privacy over the recently-disclosed data breach of more than 37 million postpaid and prepaid customer records.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff was informed just two days…
Privacy Tip #321 – California AG Warns Consumers About ID Theft from T-Mobile Breach
On March 2, 2022, California Attorney General Rob Bonta urged individuals affected by the T-Mobile breach in 2021 to take advantage of resources to assist with preventing or responding to identity theft. According to the consumer alert, more than 53 million individuals were affected by the breach, including over 6 million California residents. The compromised…
T-Mobile Clarifies Facts of Security Incident in Press Release
There has been a flurry of reporting in the past few days on the T-Mobile customer data compromise, with allegations that the compromise affected up to 100 million customers. The Federal Communications Commission confirmed yesterday that it is investigating the incident. T-Mobile proactively issued a press release on August 17 to clarify and correct the…
Privacy Tip #96 – Consider “Who Has Your Back” as Your Next Summer Read
As you head to the beach or hammock for a bit of R+R this summer, here is one that you might want on the reading list.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has been publishing a report entitled “Who Has Your Back” since 2010. The point of the report is to assess major digital companies’ attitude…
U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Mobile Phone Privacy Case
The United States Supreme Court has just agreed to hear the case of a Detroit man who was sentenced to 116 years in prison after data from his own cellular phone was used against him at his trial for his role in a string of robberies of Radio Shacks and T-Mobile stores in metro Detroit and Ohio over a two-year period.
Timothy Ivory Carpenter, who was sentenced in 2014 in U.S. District Court, was alleged to have organized the robberies and cell phone data obtained without a warrant from his provider was presented at his trial that indicated, according to an expert witness, that he was in the vicinity of the robberies when they occurred.
On appeal, Carpenter and another defendant, both of whom were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups, argued that data revealing the locations of their cell phones supplied to investigators by wireless carriers should have been excluded from trial. They argued that because those records were created for the purpose of determining the costs of their cell phone bills, collecting that data violated constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
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