The FCC issued a total of $12 million in fines to the telecommunications industry for companies which failed to certify that they were instituting proper protections of customer data. More than 600 carriers completely failed to file the paperwork, with the FCC proposing $20,000 fines for them—carriers which filed incomplete documentation will face a range of fines up to $10,000, reports CNet. As carriers collect more data (and start to find uses for it) many concerns are being raised over how the data is used, as well as how it is protected from falling into the wrong hands. These fines are just bureaucratic fines, intended to encourage operators to prove they’re following the required procedures: Companies that are shown to be grossly careless with data should receive larger fines from the FCC.