United States Fines T-Mobile $60 Million for Failing to Prevent Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Customer Data

T-Mobile was fined $60 million by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) for negligence surrounding data breaches, reports Reuters. CFIUS penalized T-Mobile for failing to prevent or disclose unauthorized access to sensitive customer data.

T Mobile Generic Feature Pink 1
When T-Mobile merged with Sprint, it signed a national security agreement with CFIUS, which is what led to the fine earlier this year. T-Mobile is owned by German company Deutsche Telekom, and T-Mobile agreed to protect consumer data as part of the Sprint acquisition. Back in 2021, T-Mobile suffered a major breach that impacted over 100 million of its users, just a year after it acquired Sprint.

CFIUS does not typically name the companies that it fines, but T-Mobile has been called out in an effort to push companies to comply with national security rules associated with acquisitions.

In 2024, following an initial Notice of Penalty issued in 2023, CFIUS resolved an enforcement action against T-Mobile US, Inc. ("T-Mobile"), a telecommunications company, resulting in a $60 million penalty. As publicly disclosed by T-Mobile, the company entered into a National Security Agreement ("NSA") with CFIUS in 2018 in connection with T-Mobile's merger with Sprint and the foreign ownership of the resulting entity. CFIUS determined that between August 2020 and June 2021, in violation of a material provision of the NSA, T-Mobile failed to take appropriate measures to prevent unauthorized access to certain sensitive data and failed to report some incidents of unauthorized access promptly to CFIUS, delaying the Committee's efforts to investigate and mitigate any potential harm. CFIUS concluded that these violations resulted in harm to the national security equities of the United States. T-Mobile has worked with CFIUS to enhance its compliance posture and obligations and has committed to working cooperatively with the U.S. Government to ensure compliance with its obligations going forward.

T-Mobile told Reuters that it experienced technical issues when integrating with Sprint, which affected information from "a small number of law enforcement information requests." T-Mobile claims to have swiftly dealt with the issue and reported it "in a timely manner."

CFIUS said that T-Mobile's lack of timely reporting prevented CFIUS from investigating and mitigating potential harm to U.S. national security.

Popular Stories

Apple Creator Studio

Apple Introduces New 'Creator Studio' Bundle of Apps for $129 Per Year

Tuesday January 13, 2026 6:11 am PST by
Apple today introduced a new Apple Creator Studio bundle that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. Here are the six apps included with an Apple Creator Studio subscription:Final Cut Pro on the Mac and iPad Logic Pro on the Mac and iPad Pixelmator...
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Apple Is Expected to Launch These Four MacBooks in 2026

Friday January 9, 2026 8:17 am PST by
2026 could be a bumper year for Apple's Mac lineup, with the company expected to announce as many as four separate MacBook launches. Rumors suggest Apple will court both ends of the consumer spectrum, with more affordable options for students and feature-rich premium lines for users that seek the highest specifications from a laptop. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. ...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Apple Confirms Google Gemini Will Power Next-Generation Siri This Year

Monday January 12, 2026 7:38 am PST by
In a statement shared with CNBC today, Apple confirmed that Google Gemini will power the next-generation version of Siri that is slated to launch later this year. "After careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we're excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users," the statement...
iOS 26

Here's What's New in iOS 26.3 So Far

Monday January 12, 2026 1:15 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 26.3, nearly a month after the first beta. So far, the update includes a couple of new features for iPhones. iOS 15.3 through iOS 18.3 were all released in late January over the years, so it is thereby likely that iOS 26.3 will be released towards the end of this month as well. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. Below,...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

10 Reasons to Wait for This Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday January 8, 2026 2:56 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
fcp pcp iwork creator studio

These Apple Apps Will No Longer Receive All New Features Without a Subscription

Tuesday January 13, 2026 10:50 am PST by
If you are not interested in subscribing to the new Apple Creator Studio bundle introduced today, you will officially start to miss out on some new features. Apple said some "exciting new intelligent features and premium content" in Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and Freeform will only be accessible with a Creator Studio subscription. In the U.S., a subscription...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Elon Musk Reacts to Apple and Google Teaming on Gemini-Powered Siri

Monday January 12, 2026 11:38 am PST by
Elon Musk today expressed concern about Apple and Google partnering on a more personalized version of Siri powered by Google's generative AI platform Gemini. "This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that [they] also have Android and Chrome," wrote Musk, in a post on X. Musk serves as CEO of xAI, the company behind Gemini competitor Grok. It is unlikely...
airpods pro 3 design

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 3 Firmware Update

Tuesday January 13, 2026 11:29 am PST by
Apple today released a firmware update for the AirPods Pro 3. The latest firmware has a version number of 8B34, up from the previous version 8B30. Apple has a support document for AirPods firmware updates, and it indicates that the 8B34 update contains unspecified "bug fixes and other improvements." No other AirPods models received firmware updates today. How to install AirPods Pro...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2.1 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Monday January 12, 2026 8:19 am PST by
iOS 26.3 will likely be released to the public later this month, but it appears that Apple is preparing to push out another software update in the interim. Apple's software engineers have started testing iOS 26.2.1, according to the MacRumors visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The update will likely be released at some point this week or next week. ...

Top Rated Comments

raythompsontn Avatar
19 months ago
Great, $60 million to CFIUS, $0 million to the people actually harmed. Fines are becoming cash cows for the other entities. That fine will not be paid by T-Mobile, but by the users through increased rates. The CFIUS effectively fined the users.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Student of Life Avatar
19 months ago
They should also directly target fines to the executive officers involved. That way the feel the real burden of their own actions. Fining the company is nice in theory but in reality the fine will be moved to the consumer.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coffeemilktea Avatar
19 months ago

Back in 2021 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/16/t-mobile-data-breach/'), T-Mobile suffered a major breach that impacted over 100 million of its users, just a year after it acquired Sprint.
"Suffered a major breach" As I recall, T-Mobile suffered three data breaches alone in 2021 (in January, August, and December), and a total of nine data breaches overall since the start of 2018.

At this point, their CEO might as well stand out on a street corner and hand out his customers' personal data, considering their cybersecurity measures are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. Does T-Mobile recruit their security experts from the same place Boeing gets their engineers? ?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antiprotest Avatar
19 months ago

How about some recompense for the customers? This almost reminds me of clash action lawsuits where the attorneys get millions and the plaintiffs get a ham sandwich.
You won't even get a slice of bread. And YOU are the one paying the fine for T-mobile failing to protect you. You are the one getting punished. So the hackers win, the CFIUS wins, t-mobile is ok, and you are both hacked and fined. It's so messed up.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
19 months ago
I don’t buy T-Mobile’s reply. Glad they were fined.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jblank Avatar
19 months ago

You won't even get a slice of bread. And YOU are the one paying the fine for T-mobile failing to protect you. You are the one getting punished. It's so messed up.
Exactly. I'm very much a free-market capitalist but corporations have too much power and influence and too little accountability, in the US today. This "penalty" and all other fines/penalties like this, should go DIRECTLY to the customer.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)