Update – Legislation would prohibit sale of phone call logs

Responding to recent concerns over Web sites that sell telephone call logs, a U.S. senator has introduced legislation that would make the sale of telephone records illegal.

Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, on Wednesday introduced the Consumer Telephone Records Protection Act of 2006, which would create felony criminal penalties for stealing and selling the records of mobile phone, landline and VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) subscribers. Cosponsoring the bill were Senators Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat.

Under current law, people who sell telephone records can’t be prosecuted, Schumer said in a press release.

A second bill will be introduced by Representatives Jay Inslee, a Washington-state Democrat, and Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, after the House of Representatives returns to work Jan. 31, the two lawmakers said. Their bill would increase criminal penalties for people who pose as account holders to access telephone and cell phone records.

Schumer’s bill comes after Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, announced Friday that he’s asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Web sites that offer to sell mobile phone records, including information about incoming and outgoing calls, for as little as $89.95.

One site, Celltolls.com, promises “outgoing calls made from the most recent (or requested) billing period, including dates and calls made,” with results available in one to four hours. Celltolls.com didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.

The FCC said Friday it would investigate Markey’s complaint, made in November. “High-tech hucksters are using the Internet to sell illegally-obtained consumer telephone records, and I urge the FTC and FCC to step up their enforcement efforts already underway to ensure that consumer telephone records do not become commodities in a cyberspace bazaar,” Markey said in a statement.

After the FCC agreed to look into Markey’s complaints, FCC member Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat, also called on the commission to consider a broad-based consumer protection policy.

“I am alarmed by reports that data brokers are obtaining and selling customers’ personal telephone records without the customers’ consent or knowledge,” Adelstein said in a statement released Monday. “These records can include some of the most private personal information about an individual. Finding out who people are calling and for how long can be like picking someone’s brain about their friends, plans or business dealings.”

So-called data brokers have come under increased congressional scrutiny in the past year. In February, ChoicePoint, based in Georgia, announced that scammers had used the company to obtain the personal records of about 145,000 U.S. residents. ChoicePoint, which provides background information to businesses, insurance companies and the U.S. government, lost records such as Social Security numbers and credit reports.

Schumer’s bill would make it illegal for someone to obtain customer information from a telephone service provider using false pretenses or to access a customer account on the Internet to obtain billing information without authorization. The bill also makes it a crime for phone company employees to sell customer information without proper authorization.

In some cases, telephone company insiders sell call-log information to data brokers, Schumer said in a press release. In other cases, data brokers pretend to be telephone company customers to get the information, or they set up their own bogus Internet accounts for telephone customers.

“Stealing someone’s private phone records is absolutely a criminal act and the fact that it can’t be prosecuted as one has got to change,” Schumer said in a statement. “Stealing a person’s phone log can lead to serious personal, financial, and safety issues for just about any American. We should protect your phone information and call logs the same way we protect your financial information or even medical records.”