The House Energy and Commerce Committee took steps Wednesday to protect consumers’ privacy by unanimously approving the Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act. The bill will not only stop data sellers from lying to obtain individual consumers’ personal phone records, but also fine telephone companies that don’t do enough to protect this information.
“These telephone calling records, which detail some of the most intimate and sensitive aspects of our lives, are easily available to anyone with an Internet connection, a credit card and $100 to spend,” Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, said. “Americans are rightfully concerned that identity thieves, stalkers and unscrupulous data brokers can access such information they believed was kept private by their telephone company.”
News reports recently unveiled an emerging cottage industry based on the sale of personal phone records. For a price, nearly anyone’s phone records are for sale, including information about who is called, when calls were made and how long they last. Data brokers who sell this information impersonate customers – a practice known as “pretexting”- to obtain their personal phone data.
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