Marriott Fined By FCC For Messing With Their Guests' Wi-Fi

Marriott will pay a big fine for what it calls a security measure. (Photo: Thinkstock)

It may have been a callous policy that employed high-tech shenanigans for the sole purpose of wringing even more money out of weary travelers’ pockets. Or it could have been a necessary security measure — that had the side effect of wringing even more money out of weary travelers’ pockets.

Either way, Marriott is in an embarrassing situation after admitting one of its hotels intentionally blocked its guests’ personal Wi-Fi hotspots — presumably forcing those guests to then buy the costly Wi-Fi provided by the hotel.

Related: What Are the Most Wi-Fi Connected Airlines?

The case started with an FCC complaint filed in March 2013 by a guest who stayed at Marrriott’s Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tenn. The guest claimed Marriott jammed his Wi-Fi mobile hotspot as he tried to use it in the hotel’s conference center. The FCC investigated and found other cases of hotel employees blocking guests’ personal Wi-Fi networks.

Marriott’s Gaylord Opryland was blocking guests’ personal Wi-Fi hotspots. They say they had a good reason. (Photo: Marrriott’s Gaylord Opryland)

The FCC was not happy. Section 333 of the Communications Act of 1934 says: “No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under this Act or operated by the United States Government.”

The hotel will pay a $600,000 fine to settle the case.

But Marriott says it didn’t do anything wrong. The chain says hotel employees were trying to protect guests from fake hotspots that scammers set up in areas that offer public Wi-Fi. In a statement, the hotel chain says: “Marriott has a strong interest in ensuring that when our guests use our Wi-Fi service, they will be protected from rogue wireless hotspots that can cause degraded service, insidious cyber-attacks and identity theft. The Gaylord Opryland protected its Wi-Fi network by using FCC-authorized equipment provided by well-known, reputable manufacturers. We believe that the Gaylord Opryland’s actions were lawful.”

Marriott does have a point; scammers do feast on public Wi-Fi hotspots. All a thief has to do is go to a public place that offers Wi-Fi to the public — such as, say, a hotel lobby. The thief then uses a router to set up a wireless network to which they assign a name that’s similar to the one used by the hotel’s wireless network (say, “Hotel Hotspot”). A guest looking for the hotel’s Wi-Fi network will instead click on the fake network, giving the thief access to that computer and all kinds of personal information.

WATCH: Scammers target travelers using hotel Wi-Fi

Still, the FCC, and many others, aren’t buying Marriott’s defense. “I’m not convinced this ‘sheltering’ of guests from rogue wireless hotspots was done for security reasons nor out of the kindness of Marriott’s heart.” Kevin Beaver, a computer security expert and author of “Hacking for Dummies,” tells Yahoo Travel.

The FCC did say its investigators found hotel employees blocking users who clearly did not pose a threat. And it does seem awfully convenient that Marriott’s big online security fix was also the same option that allowed them to charge more guests $14.95 a day to access the hotel’s Wi-Fi connection.

You do need to be careful when working on a public Wi-Fi network. (Photo: Thinkstock)

Despite his skepticism of Marriott’s motives, Beaver acknowledges the threat scammers pose to users of public Wi-Fi. “These things occur and consumers are going to have to look out for themselves.” He says computer users worried about the security can make their own hotspots with their mobile phones (it’s very easy to do but beware: if you don’t have an unlimited data plan, you can run up some serious, and expensive, data usage). “You need to be smart about what you connect to, the websites you visit, and the information you provide because prying eyes want to know,” Beaver says.

In other words, protect yourself when you travel. Because as some of Marriott’s guests found, relying on a hotel to protect you could get expensive.

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