Barton: Personal Phone Records Must Be Kept Private ‘This is an invasion into our personal privacy’ WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement today as part of a full committee hearing entitled, “Phone Records For Sale: Why Aren’t Phone Records Safe From Pretexting?” “Good afternoon. I’d like to thank our distinguished panel for coming in this afternoon to talk about pretexting and the sale of phone records. “Our e-mail is clogged with spam. Our computers are covertly monitored with spyware. Our personal information is bought and sold by information brokers. And now we learn that a phone number and one hundred dollars can buy you a month’s worth of call information for just about anyone. These are very personal and private records of who we call, when we call and how long we spend on the telephone call. This is an invasion into our personal privacy and, if I have anything to do with it, will not be allowed to continue for very much longer. “Typically, these phone records are being obtained through the phone carriers by data brokers who are ‘pretexting’, or impersonating either a customer or an executive within the telecommunications company to fraudulently obtain a customer’s records. This fraud is already illegal for financial information, and although the FTC currently has some enforcement powers under its Section 5 authority, pretexting for phone records is not explicitly regulated at the federal level. This doesn’t make sense. These are sensitive, personal records that deserve the same protection as financial information. “The ease with which data brokers can obtain these phone records is disturbing on many levels. Not only does the leaking of these records assist scam artists in perpetrating identity theft, but even more shadowy figures, such as organized crime, stalkers and abusive spouses, have co-opted this confidential information to locate and target their victims. Even the police are worried that their undercover officers could be outed by drug dealers for the cost of a few dollars and a few minutes on the Internet. “In the next few days, we’re going to begin asking tough questions of these data brokers. I can only guess at the excuses that will be offered by people who profit by engaging in an obvious fraud, by invading personal privacy and by assisting criminal behavior. “For all of these reasons, I have been working during the last several weeks with Ranking Member Dingell and others to introduce legislation that makes pretexting for telephone records illegal. Period. I plan to introduce this legislation very shortly and my goal is to quickly move it through the committee and to the House floor so we can provide meaningful protections to these sensitive records. “In addition to our expert witnesses, I’m very pleased to welcome Chairman Martin of the FCC and Commissioner Leibowitz of the FTC to the committee. There is an important role to be played by each of these agencies. Certainly, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the government’s consumer fraud watchdog. The FTC is the appropriate agency to target the criminals who attempt to make money trading in our most personal of information. The Federal Communications Commission additionally has a role to play to ensure that telecommunications carriers are compliant with their current legal obligations to protect confidential information. “I look forward to working with members on both sides of the aisle to stop this predatory practice. I thank the witnesses for being here today and I look forward to hearing their testimony. “And I especially want to offer a warm welcome to a former member of the Energy & Commerce Committee, and Hall of Fame football player, Steve Largent. As important as our hearing is today, I’m guessing that his mind may wander to this weekend’s upcoming Super Bowl, where his former team of 14 years, the Seattle Seahawks, take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. You may want to steer clear of Congressman Doyle’s questions today, since he is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.” ####