T-Mobile was fined $60 million for unauthorized data access

A powerful US panel that scrutinizes foreign investment for national security risks has fined T-Mobile $60 million, the largest penalty ever, for failing to prevent and report unauthorized access to sensitive data. senior US officials said on Wednesday.

The sanction imposed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) is related to violations of a mitigation agreement that German-controlled T-Mobile signed with the panel as part of its $23 billion acquisition of Sprint Corp. headquarters in the US in 2020.

In the case of T-Mobile, which is majority owned by Deutsche Telekom, the unauthorized access to sensitive data occurred in 2020 and 2021, US officials said.

T-Mobile said in a statement that it experienced technical issues during its post-merger integration with Sprint that affected “shared information from a small number of law enforcement information requests.” It emphasized that the data never left the law enforcement community, was reported “in a timely manner” and was “addressed quickly.”

The size of the fine, and CFIUS’s unprecedented decision to make it public, shows that the committee is taking a stronger approach to enforcement as it seeks to deter future violations.

“The announcement of the $60 million penalty highlights the committee’s commitment to stepping up CFIUS enforcement, holding companies accountable when they fail to meet their obligations,” one of the US officials said, adding that transparency about enforcement actions encourages other companies to fulfills its obligations. .

The committee has issued six sanctions in the past 18 months, triple the number it imposed between 1975 and 2022, officials told reporters, noting that penalties ranged from $100,000 to $60 million.

T-Mobile’s failure to report the incidents delayed CFIUS’ efforts to investigate and mitigate any potential harm to US national security, they added, without providing further details.