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Data: What happens to your information · Phone, TV & internet

Phone location data sold by apps and carriers: fair or not?

Your phone knows where you sleep, work, shop, worship and see the doctor, and many apps collect that location and pass it to data brokers who resell it. Wireless carriers have also been fined over sharing customers' location data. Is it fair to sell your movements when you only agreed to a pop-up?

Is it fair for apps and phone companies to sell records of where you go?

Be one of the first to vote.

What happens

When you let an app use your location, for weather, coupons or maps, it may also include code from other companies that collects the same data. That data, tied to an advertising ID, can be sold to brokers who combine it with data from many other apps.

Brokers sell location feeds or audience lists, such as people who visited a certain store, clinic or church. Even without names, a phone that sleeps at one address each night can often be traced to a person. Separately, the major wireless carriers once sold access to customers' location through middlemen, a practice they say they have ended.

Why many people say it’s not fair

  • A location prompt for one feature can lead to sale of your movements to companies you never heard of.
  • Location trails can reveal health visits, religion, relationships and home address.
  • Anonymous data can often be tied back to a person.
  • Data can reach anyone who pays, including people with harmful intentions.
  • Opting out requires changing settings in many apps and on the phone itself.

The other side

Apps and brokers say location data helps pay for free apps, measures whether ads bring store visits, and supports traffic planning, research and fraud prevention. They say users agree through permission prompts and privacy policies and can turn location off at any time.

Brokers say they increasingly screen out sensitive places and do not sell names. Carriers say the location programs at issue ended years ago and were meant for services like roadside help and fraud checks.

Options you may not be told about

On an iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. Turn off or limit each app's access, and turn off Precise Location for apps that do not need it.
On Android, go to Settings > Location > App location permissions. Choose Allow only while using the app or Don't allow, and turn off Use precise location where possible.
Delete or reset your advertising ID. On iPhone, turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track. On Android, go to Settings > Privacy > Ads.
Some FTC orders require brokers to honor consent withdrawals or deletion requests. InMarket must offer a way to request deletion, and Kochava must let consumers ask which companies received their location data.
Californians can use the free DROP tool to ask registered data brokers, including location brokers, to delete their information.

What you can do

  1. Review every app with location access and remove access that is not needed.
  2. Turn off precise location for weather, shopping and game apps.
  3. Turn off app tracking on iPhone or delete your advertising ID on Android.
  4. Delete apps you no longer use.
  5. Report concerns about carriers to the FCC and about apps or brokers to the FTC.

Rules and your rights

In April 2024 the FCC fined T-Mobile about $80 million, AT&T $57 million, Verizon $47 million and Sprint $12 million over sharing location data without consent. A federal appeals court upheld the T-Mobile and Sprint fines in 2025, and in June 2026 the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against AT&T and Verizon's claim that the fines required a jury trial. The FTC has issued orders restricting location data sales by X-Mode, InMarket, Gravy Analytics and Kochava. Report carrier problems to the FCC and app or broker problems to the FTC.

Has this happened to you? Share what happened so others know what to expect.

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Common questions

Do apps sell my location data?

Some do, often through ad or analytics code built into the app. Not every app sells data, but location is valuable to advertisers and brokers. Give location access only to apps that need it, allow it only while you use the app, and turn off precise location when an approximate area is enough.

Did my phone carrier sell my location?

The FCC found that AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint shared customer location data through third parties without proper safeguards and fined them in 2024. The carriers said those programs had ended years earlier. Courts, including the Supreme Court in June 2026, rejected the carriers' main challenges.

How do I stop my phone from sharing my location?

Check location permissions app by app in your phone's settings. Turn access off for apps that do not need it, limit the rest to while you use them, and turn off precise location where you can. Then limit ad tracking: on iPhone turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track, and on Android delete your advertising ID.

Sources: Nextgov/FCW: FCC fines major wireless carriers $200M over location data (April 2024) ↗ · EPIC: D.C. Circuit affirms FCC location data action against Sprint and T-Mobile (Aug. 2025) ↗ · FCC-posted copy of Supreme Court opinion: FCC v. AT&T, Inc. (June 4, 2026) ↗ · Benton Institute: Supreme Court backs FCC enforcement authority ↗ · FTC: Final order with X-Mode and Outlogic on sensitive location data (April 2024) ↗ · FTC: Final order with InMarket on precise location data (May 2024, archived copy) ↗ · FTC: Final order barring Gravy Analytics and Venntel from selling sensitive location data (January 2025) ↗ · Willkie: FTC settlement with Kochava and subsidiary (May 2026) ↗ · Sandpoint Reader: Court enters order against Kochava (2026) ↗ · Apple: Control Location Services on iPhone (Personal Safety Guide) ↗ · Google: Manage location permissions for apps ↗ · Apple Support: If an app asks to track your activity ↗ · Google: Advertising ID (reset or delete) ↗ · California Privacy Protection Agency: DROP ↗

General information, not legal, financial or real estate advice. Whether a practice is fair is a matter of opinion; votes and shared experiences are the views of site visitors, not AblePro, Inc. Rules and company policies change; check current terms and your state’s rules.