PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Makes it a crime to knowingly get, sell, or buy a customer's private phone records from a phone company without the customer's permission. That includes lying to a company employee or to a customer, giving fake papers to the company, or accessing customer accounts online or by hacking. If you do this, you can be fined, go to prison for up to 10 years, or both. Selling, transferring, buying, or receiving such records is also illegal if you know the customer did not agree or if you know the records were gotten by fraud. Allowed uses under the Communications Act still apply. Penalties are higher in serious cases. If the wrongdoing is done along with another federal crime or is part of a scheme that involves more than $100,000 or affects more than 50 customers in a 12-month period, you face extra fines (double the usual federal fine amount) and up to 5 more years in prison. You also get extra prison time (up to 5 years) if the records are used to help commit violent crimes or to target law enforcement. The law can apply to acts done outside the United States. It does not stop legally authorized police, intelligence, or protective work. Definitions: confidential phone records information = service usage data, customer-supplied info, or billing details; covered entity = telephone companies and IP voice providers; customer = anyone who gets service; IP-enabled voice service = real-time internet voice service that can connect to the public phone network.

Title 18, §1039

Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Criminal Violation.—

Whoever, in interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly and intentionally obtains, or attempts to obtain, confidential phone records information of a covered entity, by—

(1)making false or fraudulent statements or representations to an employee of a covered entity;

(2)making such false or fraudulent statements or representations to a customer of a covered entity;

(3)providing a document to a covered entity knowing that such document is false or fraudulent; or

(4)accessing customer accounts of a covered entity via the Internet, or by means of conduct that violates section 1030 of this title, without prior authorization from the customer to whom such confidential phone records information relates;

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

(b)Prohibition on Sale or Transfer of Confidential Phone Records Information.—

(1)Except as otherwise permitted by applicable law, whoever, in interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly and intentionally sells or transfers, or attempts to sell or transfer, confidential phone records information of a covered entity, without prior authorization from the customer to whom such confidential phone records information relates, or knowing or having reason to know such information was obtained fraudulently, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

(2)For purposes of this subsection, the exceptions specified in section 222(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 shall apply for the use of confidential phone records information by any covered entity, as defined in subsection (h).

(c)Prohibition on Purchase or Receipt of Confidential Phone Records Information.—

(1)Except as otherwise permitted by applicable law, whoever, in interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly and intentionally purchases or receives, or attempts to purchase or receive, confidential phone records information of a covered entity, without prior authorization from the customer to whom such confidential phone records information relates, or knowing or having reason to know such information was obtained fraudulently, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

(d)Enhanced Penalties for Aggravated Cases.—

Whoever violates, or attempts to violate, subsection (a), (b), or (c) while violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000, or more than 50 customers of a covered entity, in a 12-month period shall, in addition to the penalties provided for in such subsection, be fined twice the amount provided in subsection (b)(3) or (c)(3) (as the case may be) of section 3571 of this title, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.

(e)Enhanced Penalties for Use of Information in Furtherance of Certain Criminal Offenses.—

(1)Whoever, violates, or attempts to violate, subsection (a), (b), or (c) knowing that such information may be used in furtherance of, or with the intent to commit, an offense described in section 2261, 2261A, 2262, or any other crime of violence shall, in addition to the penalties provided for in such subsection, be fined under this title and imprisoned not more than 5 years.

(2)Whoever, violates, or attempts to violate, subsection (a), (b), or (c) knowing that such information may be used in furtherance of, or with the intent to commit, an offense under section 111, 115, 1114, 1503, 1512, 1513, or to intimidate, threaten, harass, injure, or kill any Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer shall, in addition to the penalties provided for in such subsection, be fined under this title and imprisoned not more than 5 years.

(f)Extraterritorial Jurisdiction.—

There is extraterritorial jurisdiction over an offense under this section.

(g)Nonapplicability to Law Enforcement Agencies.—

This section does not prohibit any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence activity of a law enforcement agency of the United States, a State, or political subdivision of a State, or of an intelligence agency of the United States.

(h)Definitions.—

In this section: (1) Confidential phone records information.—

(2)Covered entity.—

The term “covered entity”—

(A)has the same meaning given the term “telecommunications carrier” in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153); and

(B)includes any provider of IP-enabled voice service.

(3)Customer.—

The term “customer” means, with respect to a covered entity, any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation, or authorized representative of such customer, to whom the covered entity provides a product or service.

(4)IP-enabled voice service.—

The term “IP-enabled voice service” means the provision of real-time voice communications offered to the public, or such class of users as to be effectively available to the public, transmitted through customer premises equipment using TCP/IP protocol, or a successor protocol, (whether part of a bundle of services or separately) with interconnection capability such that the service can originate traffic to, or terminate traffic from, the public switched telephone network, or a successor network.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 222(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, referred to in subsecs. (b)(2) and (c)(2), is classified to section 222(d) of Title 47, Telecommunications.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Findings Pub. L. 109–476, § 2, Jan. 12, 2007, 120 Stat. 3568, provided that: “Congress finds that— “(1) telephone records can be of great use to criminals because the information contained in call logs may include a wealth of personal data; “(2) call logs may reveal the names of telephone users’ doctors, public and private relationships, business associates, and more; “(3) call logs are typically maintained for the exclusive use of phone companies, their authorized agents, and authorized consumers; “(4) telephone records have been obtained without the knowledge or consent of consumers through the use of a number of fraudulent methods and devices that include—“(A) telephone company employees selling data to unauthorized data brokers; “(B) ‘pretexting’, whereby a data broker or other person represents that they are an authorized consumer and convinces an agent of the telephone company to release the data; or “(C) gaining unauthorized Internet access to account data by improperly activating a consumer’s account management features on a phone company’s webpage or contracting with an Internet-based data broker who trafficks in such records; and “(5) the unauthorized disclosure of telephone records not only assaults individual privacy but, in some instances, may further acts of domestic violence or stalking, compromise the personal safety of law

Enforcement

officers, their families, victims of crime, witnesses, or confidential informants, and undermine the integrity of law

Enforcement

investigations.”

§1039 Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Obtaining Confidential Phone Records Information of a Covered Entity

Summary

Title 18, §1039

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Enforcement

Enforcement

Citations & Metadata