Verizon, AT&T to end location data sales to brokers

Verizon and AT&T have promised to stop selling their mobile customers' location information to third-party data brokers following a security problem that leaked the real-time location of US cell phone users.

The data has apparently allowed outside companies to pinpoint the location of wireless devices without the device owners' knowledge or consent. Verizon said that about 75 companies have been obtaining its customer data from two little-known California-based brokers that Verizon supplies directly: LocationSmart and Zumigo.

Verizon will still provide data to companies offering services like fraud prevention and call routing, but it won't do so through aggregators.

"Verizon will work with aggregators to ensure a smooth transition for these beneficial services to alternative arrangements so as to minimize the harm caused to customers and end users," said Verizon.

Following Verizon's announcement, AT&T said that it will also stop selling location data to aggregators.

"Our top priority is to protect our customers' information, and, to that end, we will be ending our work with aggregators for these services as soon as practical in a way that preserves important, potential lifesaving services like emergency roadside assistance," the company said in a statement.

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