FCC Set to Issue Notice of Liability Against Pretexter
The FCC is teeing up a notice of apparent liability (NAL) against a data broker for violating customer proprietary network information (CPNI) rules, to be voted on at the FCC’s July 13 agenda meeting. The data broker item is expected to be the highlight of the meeting.
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The FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in Feb. that examined strengthening the agency’s CPNI rules, but to date hasn’t issued a NAL against a pretexter. The FCC has taken other actions as well, including issuing subpoenas seeking details on how the companies obtained phone records and performing its own undercover investigation of companies that sell phone records on the Internet.
Al Gidari, an attorney who works for wireless carriers on CPNI issues, told us Fri. he was pleased the FCC was “finally” issuing an NAL against a pretexter. “The key point is finally, finally, finally,” Gidari said. “We had all of these people taking the 5th this week. I'm not sure what an NAL is going to accomplish; they've been in contempt of the subpoenas for a while… But I think it’s great, and I wish they had done something sooner.”
Gidari said that pretexters were especially profitable between the time when the first stories broke in Jan. about the sale of Gen. Wesley Clark’s phone records by a company called CellTolls and when the firms were shut down over the last few months. “Waiting this long to put these people out of business allowed them to make a lot of money from when the story broke in Jan. to when they finally ceased,” he said: “They made a small fortune that will never be seen.”
“It’s good to see that the FCC is continuing to pursue companies that have stolen and then are selling American’s phone records on the Internet,” said Robert Douglas, CEO of PrivacyToday.com. “I hope that they will continue to be aggressive in going after these companies. My research shows that the industry has not gone away, that a number of companies under the microscope have opened up with new names and websites… They're like weeds. Pull one and 2 more grow back.”
The FTC in May filed federal court complaints against 5 web-based data brokers that sell confidential telephone records to 3rd parties, charging them with violating federal law and seeking permanent halt to the sale of the records. Pretexting has been the subject of recurring hearings in the House and Senate, as well as legislation.