Consumer Telephone Records Protection Act of 2006 - Prohibits any person from obtaining or causing the disclosure of, or requesting another person to obtain, customer proprietary network information relating to another person by: (1) making a false statement to a telecommunications carrier; or (2) providing any information knowing that it is counterfeit, that it was obtained fraudulently or without the customer's consent, or that it contains a false statement. Prohibits a person from selling customer information relating to any other person knowing it was obtained in such manner.
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require each telecommunications carrier to notify a customer when proprietary network information relating to such customer is disclosed in violation of such prohibitions.
Treats a violation as an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Gives all of the functions and powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under that Act to the FCC to enforce compliance. Prescribes penalties, which double for violations that are part of a pattern of illegal activity.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4662 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4662
To prohibit the obtaining of customer information from
telecommunications carriers by false pretenses, and the sale or
disclosure of such records obtained by false pretenses.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 31, 2006
Mrs. Blackburn (for herself, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Dicks, Mr. Higgins, Mr.
Weiner, Mrs. Drake, Mr. Ross, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr.
Reichert, Mrs. Musgrave, Ms. Harris, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Gene
Green of Texas, Mr. Pombo, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Kline, Ms. Carson, and Mr.
Davis of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the obtaining of customer information from
telecommunications carriers by false pretenses, and the sale or
disclosure of such records obtained by false pretenses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Consumer Telephone Records
Protection Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) telephone records can be of great use to criminals
because the information contained in call logs listed in such
records include a wealth of personal information;
(2) many call logs reveal the names of many users' doctors,
public and private relationships, business associates, and
more;
(3) although other personal information, such as social
security numbers may appear in public documents, which can be
accessed by data brokers, the only warehouse of telephone
records is located at the telephone companies themselves; and
(4) telephone records may be accessed without authorization
of the customer by--
(A) an employee of the telephone company selling
the data;
(B) ``pretexting'', whereby a data broker or other
person pretends to be the owner of the phone and
convinces the telephone company's employees to release
the data to them; or
(C) unauthorized access of accounts via the
Internet; and
(5) because telephone companies encourage customers to
manage their accounts online, many set up the online capability
in advance. Many customers never access their Internet
accounts, however. If someone seeking the information activates
the account before the customer, he or she can gain unfettered
access to the telephone records and call logs of that customer.
SEC. 3. PRIVACY PROTECTION FOR CUSTOMER INFORMATION OF
TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS.
(a) Prohibition on Obtaining Customer Information by False
Pretenses.--It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain or attempt to
obtain, or cause to be disclosed or attempt to cause to be disclosed to
any person, customer proprietary network information relating to any
other person by--
(1) making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or
representation to an officer, employee, or agent of a
telecommunications carrier; or
(2) by providing, through any means including the Internet,
any document or other information to a telecommunications
carrier or an officer, employee, or agent of a
telecommunications carrier, knowing that the document or other
information is forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen, was
obtained fraudulently or without the customer's consent, or
contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or
representation.
(b) Prohibition on Solicitation of a Person to Obtain Customer
Information Under False Pretenses.--It shall be unlawful to request a
person to obtain customer proprietary network information of a
telecommunications carrier, knowing that the person will obtain, or
attempt to obtain, the information from the telecommunications carrier
in the manner described in subsection (a).
(c) Prohibition on Sale or Other Disclosure of Customer Information
Obtained Under False Pretenses.--It shall be unlawful for any person to
sell customer proprietary network information relating to any other
person, knowing that such information was obtained in the manner
described in subsection (a).
(d) Nonapplicability to Law Enforcement Agencies.--No provision of
this section shall be construed so as to prevent any action by a law
enforcement agency, or any officer, employee, or agent of such agency,
to obtain customer proprietary network information of a
telecommunications carrier in connection with the performance of
official duties of the agency.
SEC. 4. TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.
Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following new
subsection:
``(h) Notice of Violations.--The Commission shall by regulation
require each telecommunications carrier to notify the customer of any
incidents in which such telecommunications carrier becomes or is made
aware in which customer proprietary network information relating to
such customer is disclosed to someone other than the customer in
violation of this section or section 3 of the Consumer Telephone
Records Protection Act of 2006.''.
SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.
A violation of section 3 shall be treated as an unfair or deceptive
act or practice in violation of section 5 of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45). All of the functions and powers of the
Federal Trade Commission under that Act are available to the Commission
to enforce compliance by any person with such section, irrespective of
whether that person is engaged in commerce or meets any other
jurisdictional tests in the Federal Trade Commission Act, including the
power to enforce the provisions of such section in the same manner as
if the violation had been a violation of a Federal Trade Commission
trade regulation rule.
SEC. 6. CRIMINAL PENALTY.
(a) In General.--Whoever knowingly and intentionally violates
section 3 shall be fined in accordance with title 18, United States
Code, or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
(b) Enhanced Penalties for Aggravated Cases.--Whoever violates
section 3 while violating another law of the United States or as part
of a pattern of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000, or
more than 50 customers of a telecommunications carrier, in a 12-month
period shall be fined twice the amount provided in section 3571 of
title 18, or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Customer proprietary network information.--The term
``customer proprietary network information'' has the meaning
given such term in section 222(h)(1) of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222(h)(1)).
(2) Telecommunications carrier.--The term
``telecommunications carrier'' has the meaning given such term
in section 3(44) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
153(44)).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.
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