112th Precinct Community Council

protecting the privacy of your phone records

Jan 13, 2007

Protecting the Privacy of your Phone Records
By Heidi Harrison Chain

Your phone provider for long distance, local service and or cellular calls gathers information about you. The information includes who you call, when you call , where you call and how long you call. This information is called ?“Customer Proprietary Network Information?”. Based upon a recent change in the federal law and regulations, your phone company can use your information to market other products to you and they can share the information with other companies that the phone company is working with - UNLESS you indicate to the phone company that you want to retain your privacy. YOU DO HAVE THE ABILITY TO PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY.. IF YOU WANT TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO PRIVACY, YOU MUST SPECIFICALLY DIRECT YOUR PHONE COMPANY TO NOT MAKE ANY DISCLOSURES ABOUT YOUR RECORDS.
The notification that I received from my phone carrier during this holiday week indicated that they were going to use the information to sell me products and to share it with third parties to assist the phone company in promoting or providing additional products. In order to protect my privacy -I have to affirmatively send them something back in writing within 30 days to indicate that I wanted to protect my privacy or it would be taken for granted that I gave the phone company permission to use my information. So if you see this information in your phone bill- you must act upon it. Some companies are sending separate notices. Other companies are including the information in your bill. If you do nothing- your information will be disclosed.
The Federal government allows the phone companies to make use of this information to sell you additional products, and to share it with third party companies to sell you additional products but only if the phone company has your permission. Based upon the FCC?’s website, the phone company may obtain your approval orally, in writing, or electronically. The request must contain specific disclosures about how your telephone company will use your customer information.
The FCC website indicates that if your telephone company obtains your approval, it may also disclose your customer information, for the purpose of marketing communications-related services, to its agents, affiliates, joint venture partners and independent contractors that provide communications-related services.
The method picked by my phone company was to send a notice saying that it considers that they have the approval to use your information unless you tell them not to do so. You have 30 days to respond and tell them not to use your information and to keep your information private. If you do nothing ?– your information will be disclosed. So if you do not want your personal information disclosed and you want to protect your privacy ?– be sure to indicate to your phone carriers that you do not want the information disclosed. Customer information rules apply to all telephone companies: local, long distance, and wireless. Make sure that you indicate to each of your phone companies if you do not want your customer information to be disclosed.