WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission proposed fining AT&T Inc. and Alltel Corp. each $100,000 for not having certifications on file showing that they are protecting their customers’ call records.
The FCC was forced to ask the five largest wireless and wireline companies for their certifications after the House Commerce Committee requested the filings. In a separate action, the commission asked all telecommunications carriers to file their certifications with the agency by Feb. 6.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the agency has received all of the certifications it asked for-expect those from AT&T and Alltel.
AT&T filed SBC’s certification but was unable to locate the certification for AT&T, said Michael Balmoris, an AT&T spokesman. SBC Communications Inc. recently acquired AT&T Corp. and took on the AT&T name.
Alltel did not respond to a request for comment.
Each year carriers must certify that they are protecting Customer Proprietary Network Information, or CPNI. However, the certifications are not filed with the FCC; instead, each carrier must make it available upon request.
RCR Wireless News has been attempting to get the CPNI certifications for Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc. since Jan. 19. RCR first obtained Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s certification Jan. 20 and Sprint Nextel Corp.’s last week.
The filings are part of a cell-phone records scandal has been escalating since the CBS Evening News broadcast a Jan. 12 report critical of the wireless industry and the apparent theft and sale of customer-call records.
The House Commerce Committee is expected to hold a hearing on the ever-burgeoning privacy scandal regarding the disclosure and sale of customers’ telecommunications records Wednesday afternoon. The Senate Commerce consumer-affairs subcommittee is scheduled to follow a week later.
As of Monday morning, Martin was not sure whether he was testifying at the House hearing.
Many believe online data brokers are obtaining customers’ cell-phone records using pretexting-impersonating a customer to obtain the call records. There has been some question as to whether pretexting is in fact illegal. However, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Deborah Platt Majoras, told reporters during a press conference last week that the practice of pretexting is illegal. The FTC believes pretexting is illegal because it is a deceptive act to gain sensitive information, said Betsy Broder, assistant director in the FTC’s division of privacy and identity protection.
Broder acknowledged that the FTC does not have jurisdiction over communications carriers, but she said the agency has jurisdiction over the data brokers that are obtaining and selling this information. The FCC has jurisdiction over communications carriers.
The issue is notable since several legislators have proposed legislation that would make pretexting illegal.
Carriers have responded to the issue by filing suits against online data brokers. Most recently, Verizon Wireless announced a preliminary injunction against the current and former owners of the Web site LocateCell.com–Data Find Solutions, First Source Information Specialists and related companies–and other affiliated Web sites. Verizon said the injunction prohibits the companies from contacting Verizon Wireless for any reason.
