Statement of Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce

MARKUP ON THE COMMITTEE PRINT ENTITLED
“THE PREVENTION OF FRAUDULENT ACCESS TO PHONE RECORDS ACT”

March 8, 2006

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this markup today on the bipartisan legislation, the “Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act”, to help protect the privacy of consumer telephone records. Fraudulently obtaining consumers’ personal calling records can lead to both physical danger and financial harm. We are here today to agree on a way to put an end to this activity.

The Committee Print before us protects consumer information in several ways. It strengthens the ability of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by making it an express violation of the FTC Act for a person to obtain or sell a person’s telephone records by false pretenses. Currently the FTC must use its “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to crack down on these pretexters. Providing the FTC with clear authority to stop pretexting and other fraudulent activity regarding personal telephone calling records is a good first step.

The legislation places a higher burden on telecommunications carriers that want to disclose a consumer's most detailed calling records to joint ventures, independent contractors, or any other third party. Carriers would have to receive prior “opt-in” permission from a consumer before sharing the consumer's most sensitive calling information with groups engaged in activities such as marketing. Although at this time I am not aware of any situation where consumer records were obtained inappropriately under this scenario, the increasing number of people who have access to this extremely sensitive information puts it at greater risk of being compromised.

The Committee Print prohibits the sale of consumer telephone calling records. Additionally, it mandates that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopt more stringent security standards for consumers' personal calling information. The FCC is also required to conduct periodic audits of carriers and their agents to determine compliance with the law. This stands in marked contrast to the Commission’s certification requirement that, until recently, did not even require carriers to file their certifications with the Commission.

Another important provision in the Committee Print is the extension of these protections to consumers who use Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone service. Under the guise of deregulation, the Commission decided not to apply current telephone record privacy protections to VOIP services. This FCC-created loophole must be closed or else we will no doubt be back here soon with another bill. Consumer private telephone calling information is no less sensitive if a person makes a call using VOIP than using a traditional telephone. I am pleased that the Chairman is supportive of closing this loophole.

To ensure that the FCC does its job, this legislation requires the Commission to report to this Committee on the efficacy and adequacy of telecommunications carriers data security measures. The Commission is also required to report on the enforcement actions and audits it conducts each year. It is my hope that this legislation will force the Commission to take this issue more seriously and to commit the resources necessary to ensure that telecommunications carriers adequately protect sensitive calling information of consumers.

Again, I commend you, Mr. Chairman, along with Chairmen Upton and Stearns and Ranking Members Markey and Schakowsky for working with all of the Members of this Committee on this important legislation. The process has been fully bipartisan and the Committee Print is worthy of support by this Committee.

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(Contact: Jodi Seth, 202-225-3641)