What T-Mobile US (incl. Sprint) does with your data

What it collects and does with your data

• FCC found T-Mobile and Sprint sold access to customers' real-time location to aggregators that resold it, without reasonable safeguards.
• T-Mobile says its advertising business generates over $1 billion in annual revenue; it bought Vistar Media ($621 million cash) and Blis (about $175 million).
• T-Mobile privacy notice discloses categories it shares for targeted advertising or sells; says it does not sell or share sensitive personal data for cross-context ads without consent.

Sensitive data

• precise location (historical sale to aggregators)
• web and app usage for advertising
• biometrics (separate Biometric Information Privacy Notice exists)

Enforcement and litigation

1 matter in the research. Where the research says alleged, pending, or settled without admitting wrongdoing, so does this page.

• FCC forfeiture: $80 million T-Mobile plus $12.2 million Sprint. D.C. Circuit upheld in Aug 2025. T-Mobile/Sprint filed a cert petition (No. 25-1422) around late June 2026 after the Supreme Court's FCC v. AT&T ruling. Status: fine paid and upheld; cert petition pending. Amount: $92.2 million.

Who else holds your data

Organizations holding a copy of your data, as the research counts them: at least 4. T-Mobile, the aggregator, the reseller, and the end buyer (for example Securus) during the pre-2019 program.

Third parties: Categories not counted.

Data brokers linked to T-Mobile US (incl. Sprint)

None. The research documents no flow between T-Mobile US (incl. Sprint) and a data broker.

Data practices score

11 of 15. Five components, each 0 to 3. How the score works

Sells or shares

3

Enforcement

3

Retail media scale

3

Sensitive data

1

Opt-out friction

1

Estimated emissions for one person

Research gaps

• Current location-data uses in the ad business.
• Outcome of cert petition 25-1422.