New bill would outlaw sale of cellphone numbers

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) introduced legislation to ban the sale of cellphone numbers by third parties without the consent of wireless subscribers, a measure that appears targeted at Bellevue, Wash.-based information-commerce firm Intelius Inc.
“This legislation is not just about protecting the privacy of your cellphone number against unsolicited calls being charged to your account,” said Poe. “This is a security risk to every wireless subscriber because the information being sold often includes your personal credit history, including access to a person’s parents’ names and numbers, spouse’s names and numbers, past ten residences, and other personal identification information used in identity theft cases.”
Intelius sells cellphone numbers for about $15 each, and also offers a service to find names associated with phone numbers. Some anecdotal evidence suggests the service does not consistently produce accurate results.
The Consumer Cellphone Number Distribution Protection Act of 2007 would be enforceable if the cellphone number is not already publicly available and was obtained by the discloser as a condition of completing a commercial transaction.
“We want to put them out of business,” Poe told Houston radio station Mix 96.5. “They have no business, for money, selling personal identification of someone.”
The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Poe said the bill includes stiff federal penalties for violators, but did not spell out what they would be.
In August, RCR Wireless News reported Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna wants legislation to prohibit the marketing of cellphone numbers without consumer permission.
The cellphone industry attempted to create an opt-in directory several years ago, but the effort failed because of congressional privacy concerns, differences among major carriers and other factors.