Verizon
A monthly contract starts with a credit check, and the check itself becomes a record at the credit agency. The network logs your approximate location with every call, text and data session. Much of the file is kept for years after you leave, tied to the window for bringing a legal claim.
Reported incidents
Lost at the Supreme Court over its $47 million location data fine
2026-06-04Affected Location-based services sold through data aggregators
On 4 June 2026 the US Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1, in FCC v. AT&T, that the FCC may issue fines without a jury. The case joined Verizon's challenge to its $47 million fine with AT&T's challenge to its $57 million fine; both fines were for selling access to customers' location data to aggregators without valid consent. The Fifth Circuit had set AT&T's fine aside in April 2025, and the Second Circuit had upheld Verizon's. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that it "does not offend the Constitution for the Commission to issue forfeiture orders without the involvement of a jury." Justice Thomas dissented.
Fined $47 million for selling access to customers' location data
2024-04-29Affected Location-based services sold through data aggregators
The US Federal Communications Commission fined Verizon $47 million on 29 April 2024. The FCC said each of the four largest US carriers sold access to its customers' location information to aggregators, which resold that access to other companies, and that in many cases no valid customer consent was obtained. The investigation began after reports that a Missouri sheriff had tracked people through a prison phone company's location service fed by the carriers. A 2019 investigation found bounty hunters could locate any customer's phone for as little as $300. The FCC said the carriers kept selling after they learned of the misuse.
People affected typically ask Verizon to confirm whether their information was included, and which categories.
The verified route
Where data goes
What Verizon likely holds
What phone or broadband providers typically hold about you, from our industry research, the most sensitive first.
Pick a folder to see where it goes.
Most sensitive
Sensitive
Everyday
Where it goes
On Verizon's behalf
They handle your data on Verizon's instructions. If Verizon uses them, a request to Verizon should reach them.
Inferred services
Services phone or broadband providers typically use.
Get their own copy
A request to Verizon doesn't reach them. Each needs its own, and some keep records under a legal duty.
Inferred practices
What phone or broadband providers typically do with your data, from our industry research.
DÆTRAX is a personal data accountability ledger: a dated record of which companies hold your personal data, what you asked them to do about it, and what they claimed in reply.