Updates
FCC Requires T-Mobile to Implement Some Data Minimization and Zero-Trust Architecture
October 10, 2024

The Federal Communications Commission has entered into a consent decree with T-Mobile for multiple data breaches from 2021 to 2023, requiring the company to pay fines, modernize its information security practices, and implement data minimization practices and zero trust architecture.
The breaches caused a variety of customer proprietary network information (CPNI) and personal information to be exposed. CPNI includes data points like the features subscribed to by a customer and the number of lines on an account. Personal information includes customers’ social security numbers.
In the settlement, T-Mobile agreed to pay $15.75 million in civil fines, made a $15.75 million commitment to modernize its information security practices, and a committed to implementing CPNI data minimization and zero-trust system architecture.
The settlement with T-Mobile is was hailed by the FCC as the most recent accomplishment of Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s Privacy and Data Protection Task Force, established in 2023. The Task Force was also involved with similar settlements with AT&T and Verizon’s TracFone Wireless. Each settlement requires varying degrees of compliance with the cybersecurity framework put forth by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
But T-Mobile’s settlement is unique in its emphasis on data minimization, the practice of collecting and processing the least personal data necessary and deleting data when it is no longer needed. T-Mobile is obligated to maintain these practices until 2027.
EPIC has consistently advocated for stronger safeguards in America’s communications networks to ensure the data privacy and data security of those who rely on it, including regulatory comments and amicus briefs in data breach-related cases.

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