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more on FCC adopts new phone privacy rules
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 12:56:39 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501 () bobf frankston com> Date: April 3, 2007 10:32:11 AM EDT To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com Subject: RE: [IP] FCC adopts new phone privacy rulesOnce again we see a "solution" that compounds the problem. Next we'll see
the USF for email which takes a 5¢ charge on email to assure that poorpeople can send email too since they can't afford the 40¢ it costs to send
an email message. The FCC is the problem not the solution at this point. -----Original Message----- From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net] Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 08:46 To: ip () v2 listbox com Subject: [IP] FCC adopts new phone privacy rules Begin forwarded message: From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org> Date: April 2, 2007 10:19:37 PM EDT To: Blaster <rforno () infowarrior org> Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: FCC adopts new phone privacy rules http://www.theolympian.com/131/story/75518.html FCC adopts new phone privacy rules JOHN DUNBAR Associated Press Writer You'll have to provide a password if you want to get your account information from your telephone company under new privacy rules approved Monday by the Federal Communications Commission. The rules were created to safeguard against pretexting, the practice of impersonating a phone customer to gain access to his phone records. Pretexting entered the national vocabulary last year when executives of the Hewlett-Packard Co. were charged with hiring private detectives who used the technique to investigate board members. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in a written statement that the new order "takes a strong approach to protecting consumer privacy." In addition to the password protection, the rules also require carriers to ask for customers' permission when sharing private account information with business partners and independent contractors. Phone companies have contended that such an "opt-in" requirement violates their First Amendment right to communicate with customers - a position that was backed by a federal court in 1999. The new safeguards also require that consumers be notified immediately when there are changes made to their passwords, addresses or online accounts. The FCC has been working on phone privacy rules since the issue was raised by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit privacy rights group, in 2005. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the organization, praised the agency's action. "I think these are important rules that will help safeguard the privacy of telephone customers' information," he said. "There's more work to be done in this area but this is certainly an excellent first step." The rules included one provision that Rotenberg and both Democrats on the commission strongly oppose, however. The provision requires that law enforcement agencies like the FBI and the Secret Service be informed of a privacy breach before consumers are. The delay would be seven days or perhaps indefinite, depending on the circumstances. "As some have described it, it is akin to not telling victims of a burglary that their home has been broken into because law enforcement needs to continue dusting for fingerprints," commented Commissioner Michael Copps. In filings, the Justice Department said it needed the provision to keep from tipping off investigative targets. Earlier this year, President Bush signed a law criminalizing pretexting and imposing penalties, including up to 10 years in prison. The new law gives police a weapon to punish perpetrators but leaves out requirements on how phone companies should protect their customers' private data. Law enforcement agencies were explicitly exempted from that law. ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/@now Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/@now RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/7494666-5774f7 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- more on FCC adopts new phone privacy rules David Farber (Apr 03)