AT&T: Difference between revisions
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[[wikipedia:AT&T|'''AT&T, Inc.''']] is a major telecommunications holding company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. AT&T owns several smaller telecommunications companies, including Cricket Wireless and DIRECTV. <ref>https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732717/000073271718000009/ex21.htm</ref> | [[wikipedia:AT&T|'''AT&T, Inc.''']] is a major telecommunications holding company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. AT&T owns several smaller telecommunications companies, including Cricket Wireless and DIRECTV. <ref>{{Cite web |title=PRINCIPAL SUBSIDIARIES OF AT&T INC. |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732717/000073271718000009/ex21.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251004102846/https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732717/000073271718000009/ex21.htm |archive-date=2025-10-04 |website=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission}}</ref> | ||
==Consumer impact summary== | ==Consumer impact summary== | ||
* '''Privacy -''' In 2017, the Electronic Frontier Foundation awarded AT&T with a 1 out of 5 stars privacy rating, the same as AT&T's largest competitors, Verizon and T-Mobile.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20180915003333/https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-2017</ref> | *'''Privacy -''' In 2017, the Electronic Frontier Foundation awarded AT&T with a 1 out of 5 stars privacy rating, the same as AT&T's largest competitors, Verizon and T-Mobile.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reitman |first=Rainey |date=2017-07-10 |title=Who Has Your Back? Government Data Requests 2017 |url=https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915003333/https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-2017 |archive-date=2018-09-15 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation}}</ref> | ||
==Incidents== | ==Incidents== | ||
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===Selling consumer data (2024)=== | ===Selling consumer data (2024)=== | ||
FCC found that all major telecommunications companies were illegally selling customer's location data. FCC fined AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon nearly $200 million; AT&T's share amounted to 0.22% of their net annual income.<ref group="Video References">https://youtube.com/watch?v=mdZt7ox1DDs</ref> | FCC found that all major telecommunications companies were illegally selling customer's location data. FCC fined AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon nearly $200 million; AT&T's share amounted to 0.22% of their net annual income.<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossman |first=Louis |date=2024-04-30 |title=No Escape: EVERY US Carrier Sold Your Location Data with 0.4% Penalties from the FCC! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdZt7ox1DDs |url-status=live |website=YouTube}}</ref> | ||
===Massive data breach (March 2024)=== | ===Massive data breach (March 2024)=== | ||
In March 2024, tens of millions of records allegedly breached from AT&T were posted to a popular hacking forum.<ref>https://www.troyhunt.com/inside-the-massive-alleged-att-data-breach</ref> Dating back to August 2021, the data was originally posted for sale before later being freely released. At the time, AT&T maintained that there had not been a breach of their systems and that the data originated from elsewhere. Twelve days later, AT&T acknowledged that data fields specific to them were in the breach and that it was not yet known whether the breach occurred at their end or that of a vendor.<ref>https://about.att.com/story/2024/addressing-data-set-released-on-dark-web.html</ref> AT&T also proceeded to reset customer account passcodes,<ref>https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/30/att-reset-account-passcodes-customer-data/</ref> an indicator that there was sufficient belief passcodes had been compromised. The incident exposed names, email and physical addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and US Social Security numbers. | In March 2024, tens of millions of records allegedly breached from AT&T were posted to a popular hacking forum.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Troy |date=2024-03-19 |title=Inside the Massive Alleged AT&T Data Breach |url=https://www.troyhunt.com/inside-the-massive-alleged-att-data-breach/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251211134030/https://www.troyhunt.com/inside-the-massive-alleged-att-data-breach/ |archive-date=2025-12-11 |website=TroyHunt.com}}</ref> Dating back to August 2021, the data was originally posted for sale before later being freely released. At the time, AT&T maintained that there had not been a breach of their systems and that the data originated from elsewhere. Twelve days later, AT&T acknowledged that data fields specific to them were in the breach and that it was not yet known whether the breach occurred at their end or that of a vendor.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-30 |title=AT&T Addresses Recent Data Set Released on the Dark Web |url=https://about.att.com/story/2024/addressing-data-set-released-on-dark-web.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251221112957/https://about.att.com/story/2024/addressing-data-set-released-on-dark-web.html |archive-date=2025-12-21 |website=AT&T}}</ref> AT&T also proceeded to reset customer account passcodes,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Whittaker |first=Zack |date=2024-03-30 |title=AT&T resets account passcodes after millions of customer records leak online |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/30/att-reset-account-passcodes-customer-data/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251223093948/https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/30/att-reset-account-passcodes-customer-data/ |archive-date=2025-12-23 |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref> an indicator that there was sufficient belief passcodes had been compromised. The incident exposed names, email and physical addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and US Social Security numbers. | ||
==Products== | ==Products== | ||