Legislation Progressing Against Sale of Cell Phone Records

7:30 am on March 10, 2006 | Category: Business, Law, Regulation, Wireless

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The US Energy and Commerce Committee has given their approval to a bill that would make it illegal for so called “data brokers” to possess or sell the phone records of consumers.

The proposed legislation also includes a provision to tighten up privacy protection rules on wireless carriers, which has met with a mixed reaction from industry associations.

“We applaud any effort that focuses on the criminal who is unlawfully obtaining and marketing private call record information,” said Joseph Farren, a spokesman from CTIA-The Wireless Association. “At the same time, we have serious concerns about how far this bill goes into issues completely unrelated to the illicit behavior Congress is attempting to stop.”

The extra provisions, however, might be useful in preventing future schemes of a similar nature, or making it harder to break the new laws. Although the legislation certainly shouldn’t be allowed to exercise unnecessary control over providers, it is essential that company’s have an incentive to help ensure that the new legislation isn’t simply circumvented or ignored.

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    Edited by Jeremy Maddock