[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1139 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1139
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to protect the privacy rights
of subscribers to wireless communications services.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 7, 2005
Mr. Pitts (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Shadegg, Ms. Eshoo, Mr.
Norwood, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Issa, Mr. Cox, Mr. Akin, Mr. DeFazio, Mr.
Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Murtha, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Calvert, Mr.
McCotter, Mr. English of Pennsylvania, Mr. Filner, Mr. Gilchrest, Ms.
McCollum of Minnesota, Mrs. McCarthy, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Kennedy of
Minnesota, and Mr. Miller of Florida) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to protect the privacy rights
of subscribers to wireless communications services.
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 ``Wireless 411 Privacy Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) There are roughly 150 million wireless subscribers in
the United States, up from approximately 15 million subscribers
just a decade ago.
(2) Wireless phone service has proven valuable to millions
of Americans because of its mobility, and the fact that
government policies have expanded opportunities for new
carriers to enter the market, offering more choices and ever
lower prices for consumers.
(3) In addition to the benefits of competition and
mobility, subscribers also benefit from the fact that wireless
phone numbers have not been publicly available.
(4) Up until now, the privacy of wireless subscribers has
been safeguarded and thus vastly diminished the likelihood of
subscribers receiving unwanted or annoying phone call
interruptions on their wireless phones.
(5) Moreover, because their wireless contact information,
such as their phone number, have never been publicly available
in any published directory or from any directory assistance
service, subscribers have come to expect that if their phone
rings it's likely to be a call from someone to whom they have
personally given their number.
(6) The wireless industry is poised to begin implementing a
directory assistance service so that callers can reach wireless
subscribers, including subscribers who have not given such
callers their wireless phone number.
(7) While some wireless subscribers may find such directory
assistance service useful, current subscribers deserve the
right to choose whether they want to participate in such a
directory.
(8) Because wireless users are typically charged for
incoming calls, consumers must be afforded the ability to
maintain the maximum amount of control over how many calls they
may expect to receive and, in particular, control over the
disclosure of their wireless phone number.
(9) Current wireless subscribers who elect to participate,
or new wireless subscribers who decline to be listed, in any
new wireless directory assistance service directory, including
those subscribers who also elect not to receive forwarded calls
from any wireless directory assistance service, should not be
charged for exercising such rights.
(10) The marketplace has not yet adequately explained an
effective plan to protect consumer privacy rights.
(11) Congress previously acted to protect the wireless
location information of subscribers by enacting prohibitions on
the disclosure of such sensitive in formation without the
express prior authorization of the subscriber.
(12) The public interest would be served by similarly
enacting effective and industry-wide privacy protections for
consumers with respect to wireless directory assistance
service.
SEC. 3. CONSUMER CONTROL OF WIRELESS PHONE NUMBERS.
Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(c))
is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(9) Wireless consumer privacy protection.--
``(A) Current subscribers.--A provider of
commercial mobile services, or any direct or indirect
affiliate or agent of such a provider, may not include
the wireless telephone number information of any
current subscriber in any wireless directory assistance
service database unless--
``(i) the mobile service provider provides
a conspicuous, separate notice to the
subscriber informing the subscriber of the
right not to be listed in any wireless
directory assistance service; and
``(ii) the mobile service provider obtains
express prior authorization for listing from
such subscriber, separate from any
authorization obtained to provide such
subscriber with commercial mobile service, or
any calling plan or service associated with
such commercial mobile service, and such
authorization has not been subsequently
withdrawn.
``(B) New subscribers.--A provider of commercial
mobile services, or any direct or indirect affiliate or
agent of such a provider, may include the wireless
telephone number information of any new subscriber in a
wireless directory assistance service database only if
the commercial mobile service provider--
``(i) provides a conspicuous, separate
notice to the subscriber, at the time of
entering into an agreement to provide
commercial mobile service, and at least once a
year thereafter, informing the subscriber of
the right not to be listed in any wireless
directory assistance service database; and
``(ii) provides the subscriber with
convenient mechanisms by which the subscriber
may decline or refuse to participate in such
database, including mechanisms at the time of
entering into an agreement to provide
commercial mobile service, in the billing of
such service, and when receiving any connected
call from a wireless directory assistance
service.
``(C) Call forwarding.--A provider of commercial
mobile services, or any direct or indirect affiliate or
agent of such provider, may connect a calling party
from a wireless directory assistance service to a
commercial mobile service subscriber only if--
``(i) such subscriber is provided prior
notice of the calling party's identity and is
permitted to accept or reject the incoming call
on a per-call basis;
``(ii) such subscriber's wireless telephone
number information is not disclosed to the
calling party; and
``(iii) such subscriber is not an unlisted
commercial mobile service subscriber.
``(D) Publication of directories prohibited.--A
provider of commercial mobile services, or any direct
or indirect affiliate or agent of such a provider, may
not publish, in printed, electronic, or other form, the
contents of any wireless directory assistance service
database, or any portion or segment thereof.
``(E) No consumer fee for retaining privacy.--A
provider of commercial mobile services may not charge
any subscriber for exercising any of the rights under
this paragraph.
``(F) Definitions.--For purposes of this
paragraph--
``(i) the term `current subscriber' means
any subscriber to commercial mobile service as
of the date when a wireless directory
assistance service is implemented by a provider
of commercial mobile service;
``(ii) the term `new subscriber' means any
subscriber to commercial mobile service who
becomes a subscriber after the date when a
wireless directory assistance service is
implemented by a provider of commercial mobile
service, and includes any subscriber of a
different provider of commercial mobile service
who subsequently switches to a new provider of
commercial mobile service;
``(iii) the term `wireless telephone number
information' means the telephone number,
electronic address, and any other identifying
information by which a calling party may reach
a subscriber to commercial mobile services, and
which is assigned by a commercial mobile
service provider to such subscriber, and
includes such subscriber's name and address;
``(iv) the term `wireless directory
assistance service' means any service for
connecting calling parties to a subscriber of
commercial mobile service when such calling
parties themselves do not possess such
subscriber's wireless telephone number
information; and
``(v) the term `calling party's identity'
means the telephone number of the calling party
or the name of subscriber to such telephone, or
an oral or text message which provides
sufficient information to enable a commercial
mobile services subscriber to determine who is
calling;
``(vi) the term `unlisted commercial mobile
services subscriber' means--
``(I) a current subscriber to
commercial mobile services who has not
provided express prior consent to a
commercial mobile service provider to
be included in a wireless directory
assistance service database; and
``(II) a new subscriber to
commercial mobile service who has
exercised the right contained in
subparagraph (B)(ii) to decline or
refuse to such inclusion.''.
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