[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3432 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3432

 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the disclosure of 
 certain information concerning customer's uses of telephone services, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 1993

 Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Kreidler, Mr. Synar, Mr. Bryant, and Mr. 
   Cooper) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the disclosure of 
 certain information concerning customer's uses of telephone services, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Telephone Consumer Privacy 
Protection Act of 1993''.

      TITLE I--PRIVACY OF CUSTOMER PROPRIETARY NETWORK INFORMATION

SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.

    Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section:

``SEC. 229. PRIVACY OF CUSTOMER PROPRIETARY NETWORK INFORMATION.

    ``(a) Privacy Requirements for Common Carriers.--A local exchange 
carrier--
            ``(1) shall not, except as required by law or upon the 
        affirmative request of the customer to which the information 
        relates--
                    ``(A) use customer proprietary network information 
                in the provision of any service other than (i) 
                telephone exchange service or telephone toll service, 
                or (ii) a service necessary to or used in the provision 
                of telephone exchange service or telephone toll 
                service;
                    ``(B) use customer proprietary network information 
                in the identification or solicitation of potential 
                customers for any service other than the service from 
                which such information is derived;
                    ``(C) use such information in the provision of 
                customer premises equipment; or
                    ``(D) disclose such information to any affiliate of 
                such common carrier or any other person that is not an 
                employee of such carrier;
            ``(2) shall disclose such information, upon affirmative 
        written request by the customer, to any person designated by 
        the customer;
            ``(3) shall, whenever such common carrier provides any 
        aggregate information based on customer proprietary network 
        information or any data base or other compilation of customer 
        proprietary information to any personnel of such common 
        carrier, or any affiliate of such common carrier, that are 
        engaged in providing any service that is not necessary to the 
        provision of telephone exchange service, or that are engaged in 
        the provision of customer premises equipment, or to any other 
        person that is not an employee or affiliate of such carrier, 
        notify the Commission of the availability of such aggregate or 
        compiled information and shall provide such aggregate or 
        compiled information on reasonable terms and conditions to any 
        other service or equipment provider upon reasonable request 
        therefor; and
            ``(4) shall not discriminate between affiliated and 
        unaffiliated service or equipment providers in providing access 
        to, or in the use and disclosure of, individual and aggregate 
        or compiled information made available consistent with this 
        subsection.
    ``(b) Rule of Construction.--This section shall not be construed to 
prohibit the disclosure of customer proprietary network information as 
necessary--
            ``(1) to render, bill, and collect for telephone exchange 
        service or telephone toll service;
            ``(2) to render, bill, and collect for any other 
        telecommunications service that the customer has requested;
            ``(3) to protect the rights or property of the carrier; or
            ``(4) to protect users of any of those services and other 
        carriers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of or 
        subscription to such service.
    ``(c) Exemption Permitted.--The Commission may, by rule, exempt 
from the requirements of subsection (a) local exchange carriers that do 
not have 1,000,000 aggregate nationwide lines installed if the 
Commission determines that such exemption is in the public interest or 
if compliance with the requirements would impose an undue economic 
burden on the carrier.
    ``(d) Duty To Provide Subscriber List Information.--Notwithstanding 
subsections (a), (b), and (c), a local exchange carrier that provides 
subscriber list information to any affiliated or unaffiliated service 
provider or person shall provide subscriber list information on a 
timely and unbundled basis, under nondiscriminatory and reasonable 
rates, terms, and conditions, to any person upon reasonable request.
    ``(e) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) The term `customer proprietary network information' 
        means--
                    ``(A) information which (i) relates to the 
                quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, 
                and amount of use of telephone exchange service or 
                interexchange telephone service subscribed to by any 
                customer of a telephone operating company, and (ii) is 
                available to the telephone operating company by virtue 
                of the telephone company-customer relationship;
                    ``(B) information contained in the bills for 
                telephone exchange service or interexchange telephone 
                service received by a customer of a telephone operating 
                company; and
                    ``(C) such other information concerning the 
                customer as is (i) available to the telephone operating 
                company by virtue of the customer's use of the 
                company's services, and (ii) specified as within the 
                definition of such term by such rules as the Commission 
                shall prescribe consistent with the public interest,
        except that such term does not include subscriber list 
        information.
            ``(2) The term `subscriber information' means any 
        information--
                    ``(A) identifying the names of subscribers of a 
                local exchange carrier and such subscribers' telephone 
                numbers, addresses, or advertising classifications, or 
                any combination of such names, numbers, addresses, or 
                classifications; and
                    ``(B) that the carrier or an affiliate has 
                published or accepted for future publication.
            ``(3) The term `aggregate information' means collective 
        data that relates to a group or category of services or 
        customers, from which individual customer identities or 
        characteristics have been removed.''.

             TITLE II--PRIVACY OF CALLING PARTY INFORMATION

SEC. 201. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that:
            (1) The right of privacy is the central principle that 
        should guide the introduction and use of new telecommunications 
        technologies and services.
            (2) Caller Identification Service, known as ``Caller ID'', 
        can provide value to telephone subscribers by identifying the 
        calling party prior to accepting the call.
            (3) Interexchange carriers offering ``800'' and ``900'' 
        number services often pass a protocol service known as the 
        Automatic Number Identification (``ANI'') that identifies the 
        calling party's telephone number to end users.
            (4) While Caller ID provides value to the called party, it 
        also affects the legitimate privacy interests of the calling 
        party.
            (5) These privacy interests must be properly balanced to 
        protect the rights of both calling and receiving party when 
        caller identification services are offered by common carrier.
            (6) This personal information can be developed into highly 
        sophisticated and possibly intrusive lists that are 
        subsequently used or sold for marketing and other purposes 
        often without the knowledge or consent of consumers whose 
        information was accessed initially through Caller ID or ANI 
        generated information.
            (7) Unrestricted offerings of caller identification 
        services may infringe upon some calling parties' expectations 
        of anonymity and privacy in some or all of their telephone 
        transactions.
            (8) Federal requirements for the offering of caller 
        identification service are necessary to ensure uniform 
        regulation which appropriately balances the rights of both the 
        calling and receiving party when caller identification services 
        are offered by common carriers.

SEC. 202. CUSTOMER PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Amendment.--Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 is 
further amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section:

``SEC. 230. CUSTOMER PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) The term `caller identification service' means a 
        service which makes use of a display device at the called 
        party's telephone to automatically indicate the telephone 
        number (with or without the area code) of, or other personally 
        identifying information concerning, any party calling from 
        within the local area or from another area, except that such 
        term does not include an automatic number identification 
        service.
            ``(2) The term `automatic number identification' means an 
        access signaling protocol in common use by common carriers that 
        uses an identifying signal associated with the use of a 
        subscriber's telephone to provide billing information or other 
        information to the local exchange carrier and to any other 
        interconnecting carriers.
            ``(3) The term `aggregate information' means collective 
        data that relates to a group or category of services or 
        customers, from which individual customer identities or 
        characteristics have been removed.
    ``(b) Calling Party Identification.--
            ``(1) Rulemaking required.--The Commission shall, within 
        180 days after the date of enactment of this section, prescribe 
        regulations requiring any caller identification service offered 
        by a common carrier, or by any other person that makes use of 
        the facilities of a common carrier, to allow the caller to 
        withhold, on a per-call basis, the display of the caller's 
        telephone number, name, or other personally identifying 
        information, from the telephone or other instrument of the 
        individual receiving the call.
            ``(2) Charges for withholding numbers prohibited.--Such 
        regulations shall prohibit any charges from being imposed on 
        the caller who requests that his or her telephone number be 
        withheld from the recipient of a call placed by the caller.
            ``(3) Notification to customers.--Such regulations shall 
        require every common carrier to notify its subscribers that 
        their calls may be identified to a called party not later 
        than--
                    ``(A) 30 days before the common carrier commences 
                to participate in the offering of a call identification 
                service; and
                    ``(B) 60 days after the date such regulations are 
                prescribed, if the private or common carrier is 
                participating in the offering of a call identification 
                service prior to such date.
            ``(4) Exemptions.--This subsection does not apply to any of 
        the following:
                    ``(A) A caller identification service which is used 
                solely in connection with calls within the same limited 
                system, including (but not limited to) a Centrex, 
                virtual private network, or private branch exchange 
                system.
                    ``(B) A caller identification service which is used 
                on a public agency's emergency telephone line or on the 
                line which receives the primary emergency telephone 
                number (911) or on any entity's emergency assistance 
                poison control telephone line.
                    ``(C) A caller identification service provided in 
                connection with legally authorized call tracing or 
                trapping procedures specifically requested by a law 
                enforcement agency.
            ``(5) Waiver.--The regulations prescribed by the Commission 
        under paragraph (1) may waive the requirements of this 
        subsection where compliance with such requirements is not 
        technologically feasible.
    ``(c) Automatic Number Identification Services.--
            ``(1) Contract requirements.--Any common carrier or 
        affiliate of a common carrier providing automatic number 
        identification services to any person shall provide such 
        services under a contract or tariff containing telephone 
        subscriber information requirements that comply with this 
        subsection. Such requirements shall--
                    ``(A) permit such person to use the telephone 
                number and billing information provided pursuant to the 
                automatic number identification service for billing and 
                collection, routing, screening, and completion of the 
                originating telephone subscriber's call or transaction, 
                or for services directly related to the originating 
                telephone subscriber's call or transaction;
                    ``(B) prohibit such person from reusing or selling 
                the telephone number or billing information provided 
                pursuant to the automatic number identification service 
                without first orally (i) notifying the originating 
                telephone subscriber and (ii) extending to such 
                subscriber the option to limit or prohibit such reuse 
                or sale; and
                    ``(C) prohibit such person from disclosing, except 
                as permitted by subparagraphs (A) and (B), any 
                information derived from the automatic number 
                identification service for any purpose other than--
                            ``(i) performing the services or 
                        transactions that are the subject of the 
                        originating telephone subscriber's call,
                            ``(ii) ensuring network performance, 
                        security, and the effectiveness of call 
                        delivery,
                            ``(iii) compiling, using, and disclosing 
                        aggregate information, and
                            ``(iv) complying with applicable law or 
                        legal process.
            ``(2) Exception for established customers.--The customer 
        information requirements imposed under paragraph (1) shall not 
        prevent a person to which automatic number identification 
        services are provided from using--
                    ``(A) the telephone number and billing information 
                provided pursuant to such service, and
                    ``(B) any information derived from the automatic 
                number identification service, or from the analysis of 
                the characteristics of a telecommunications 
                transmission,
        to offer, to any telephone subscriber with which such person 
        has an established customer relationship, a product or service 
        that is directly related to the products or service previously 
        acquired by that customer from such person.
            ``(3) Enforcement.--(A) Each common carrier shall receive 
        and transmit to the Commission complaints concerning violations 
        of the telephone subscriber information requirements imposed 
        under paragraph (1). Each common carrier shall submit to the 
        Commission, in such form as the Commission may require by 
        regulation, reports on actions taken by the carrier to comply 
        with this section.
            ``(B) The Commission may, by rule or order, direct the 
        termination of automatic number identification services to any 
        person who has violated the telephone subscriber information 
        requirements imposed under paragraph (1). For purposes of 
        section 503(b)(1)(B), violations of such requirements shall be 
        considered to be a violation of a provision of this Act.
            ``(4) Effective date.--(A) Except as provided in 
        subparagraph (B), the requirements of this subsection shall 
        apply to any automatic number identification service provided 
        on or after one year after the date of enactment of this 
        subsection.
            ``(B) In the case of any automatic number identification 
        service provided under a contract entered into, or tariff 
        taking effect, more than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
        this subsection, the requirements of this subsection shall 
        apply to any automatic number identification service provided 
        pursuant to such contract or tariff.
    ``(d) State Law.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
no State shall prohibit or effectively prevent the provision of caller 
identification services.''.

SEC. 203. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    Section 2(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by 
striking ``Except as provided'' and all that follows through ``and 
subject to the provisions'' and inserting ``Except as provided in 
sections 223 through 230, inclusive, and subject to the provisions''.

SEC. 204. BLOCKING.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent a common carrier, 
or any other person that makes use of the facilities of a common 
carrier, from offering services or technology enabling a telephone 
subscriber receiving a call to block the call, or block the completion 
of the call, where the caller has chosen to withhold the display of the 
caller's telephone number, name, or other personally identifying 
information.

                 TITLE III--ACCESS TO TELEPHONE RECORDS

SEC. 301. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICABILITY OF SECTION 705 TO CARRIERS AND 
              THEIR EMPLOYEES; SUBSCRIBER NOTIFICATION.

    Section 705(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 605(a)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sentences: ``The 
prohibitions contained in this section apply to a person who is a 
common carrier or an affiliate or employee of a common carrier and who 
divulges or publishes the existence, contents, substance, purport, 
effect, or meaning thereof to a person who is not a common carrier or 
affiliate or employee of a common carrier. Any common carrier that, 
pursuant to a subpoena issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or 
on demand of other lawful authority, divulges or publishes a 
subscriber's billing information or other information disclosing the 
existence of any interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio 
by a subscriber, shall inform such subscriber within 10 days after such 
information is divulged or published of the information divulged or 
published and the identity of the recipient of the information, unless 
such carrier is prohibited from so informing such subscriber by order 
of such court or other lawful authority for the purpose of preventing 
the subject of a criminal investigation from being informed of its 
pendency.''.

              TITLE IV--PRIVACY OF SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION-

SEC. 401. IMPACT OF CONVERGING COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES ON CONSUMER 
              PRIVACY.

    (a) Proceeding Required.--Within 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall commence a proceeding--
            (1) to examine the impact of the integration into 
        interconnected communications networks of wireless telephone, 
        cable, satellite, and other technologies on the privacy rights 
        and remedies of the consumers of those technologies;
            (2) to examine the impact that the globalization of such 
        integrated communications networks has on the international 
        dissemination of consumer information and the privacy rights 
        and remedies to protect consumers;
            (3) to propose changes in the Commission's regulations to 
        ensure that the effect on consumer privacy rights is considered 
        in the introduction of new telecommunications services and that 
        the protection of such privacy rights is incorporated as 
        necessary in the design of such services or the rules 
        regulating such services;
            (4) to propose changes in the Commission's regulations as 
        necessary to correct any defects identified pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) in such rights and remedies; and
            (5) to prepare recommendations to the Congress for any 
        legislative changes required to correct such defects.
    (b) Subjects for Examination.--In conducting the examination 
required by subsection (a)(1), the Commission shall determine whether 
consumers are able, and, if not, the methods by which consumers may be 
enabled--
            (1) to have knowledge that consumer information is being 
        collected about them through their utilization of various 
        communications technology;
            (2) to have notice that such information could be used, or 
        is intended to be used, by the entity collecting the data for 
        reasons unrelated to the original communications, or that such 
        information could be sold (or is intended to be sold) to other 
        companies or entities; and
            (3) to stop the reuse or resale of that information.
    (c) Schedule for Commission Responses.--The Commission shall, 
within one year after the date of enactment of this Act--
            (1) complete any rulemaking required to revise Commission 
        regulations to correct defects in such regulations identified 
        pursuant to subsection (a)(1); and
            (2) submit to the Congress a report containing the 
        recommendations required by subsection (a)(3).

                                 <all>

HR 3432 IH----2
HR 3432 IH----3