It’s the digital security training team at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), with security news that keeps you, your sources, and your devices safe. If someone shared this newsletter with you, please subscribe here.

Location data fines on the horizon for Verizon

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission fined Verizon, alongside T-Mobile and AT&T, for selling customers’ location data without consent through contracts with location aggregation companies. Verizon has been fighting the fines, arguing that the law does not cover device location data, only call location data. Last week, we learned that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit disagreed and upheld the $46.9 million fine on the telecommunications giant for violations of the Communications Act. Read more.

What you can do

  • Remember: Your phone’s job is to give away your location. There’s nothing nefarious about your phone giving away location data. This is what it’s designed to do: ensure you stay connected, and that requires location information. Along the way, you are often leaving records of these connections with third parties so that they can maintain your connection to nearby cellphone towers, GPS, or even other data connections the device broadcasts, like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (though this is slowly getting better). In some circumstances (e.g., using Apple’s Find My feature) the device can even be found when it’s offline. With that said, there are some ways to lower risk.
  • Tighten your location settings. Location data brokers often get your location by embedding location tracking code in third-party apps. You can make location data brokers’ jobs harder by going into your settings app and adjusting your permissions. Many apps don’t need access to location, and you can turn location permissions off or enable them at the moment you need them. To disable location permissions, Android users can follow the instructions here, and iPhone users can follow the instructions here.
  • Uninstall unneeded apps. Do some spring cleaning and remove third-party apps that you don’t strictly need. This is not only to remove apps with potentially dodgy code. It’s also just a positive thing to do for the safety of all of your computers and phones, because this gives malware fewer ways to gain a foothold. You can always install apps again later as needed.
  • But wait, there’s more: disable advertising IDs. In a previous digital security digest, we wrote about ways to remove location tracking based on device IDs designed for advertisers. Check it out.
  • Don’t stop there. While you’re tinkering with your location settings, why not tighten some other settings too? Read our guide to mobile device maintenance.

Our team is always ready to assist journalists with digital security concerns. Reach out here, and stay safe and secure out there.

Best,
Martin

–

Martin Shelton
Deputy Director of Digital Security
Freedom of the Press Foundation