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To provide this data, AT\u0026amp;T contracted with \u201clocation aggregators,\u201d who in turn resold the data to service providers. AT\u0026amp;T required those providers to obtain customer consent for each location request and reviewed their procedures, but it did not directly verify customer consent before transferring data. In 2018, news reports began revealing that some service providers misused or failed to adequately protect customers\u2019 location data. In response, AT\u0026amp;T halted access for those providers, and by March 2019, shuttered the entire location-data program.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPrompted by these reports, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initiated an investigation and in 2020 issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL), proposing a $57 million fine for AT\u0026amp;T\u2019s purported violations of Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 and corresponding FCC regulations. AT\u0026amp;T challenged the classification of location data as \u201ccustomer proprietary network information\u201d (CPNI), asserted it had acted reasonably, and raised constitutional objections. After reviewing AT\u0026amp;T\u2019s written response, the FCC rejected its defenses and issued a forfeiture order. Significantly, the FCC imposed the fine without a hearing or trial; AT\u0026amp;T\u2019s only opportunity to respond occurred through written submissions to the agency.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAT\u0026amp;T paid the fine and petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for review. The Fifth Circuit vacated the forfeiture order, holding that the FCC\u2019s in-house enforcement process violated AT\u0026amp;T\u2019s rights under Article III and the Seventh Amendment.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EAre provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 that govern the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s assessment and enforcement of monetary forfeitures consistent with the Seventh Amendment and Article III?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":null,"advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":33557,"name":"Jeffrey B. 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