Report No. CC 98-5 COMMON CARRIER ACTION February 19, 1998
FCC CLARIFIES CUSTOMER PRIVACY PROVISIONS OF 1996 ACT;
Customers To Control Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
(CC Docket Nos. 96-115, 96-149)
The Commission today adopted an Order that furthers the privacy rights of
telecommunications customers while promoting the convenience by which customers
may receive telecommunications service. In addition, the Commission's action
fosters fair competition among telecommunications carriers regarding the use of
customer information. This sensitive and commercially valuable customer
information includes, for example, when a customer places a call, whom and where a
customer calls, and the types of service offerings to which a customer subscribes.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 refers to this as "customer proprietary network
information," or CPNI.
Section 222 of the 1996 Act establishes CPNI requirements, effective upon
enactment, for all telecommunications carriers. The statute recognizes that customers
must be able to control information they view as sensitive and personal from use,
disclosure, and access by carriers. Where information is not sensitive, or where a
customer so directs, the statute permits the dissemination of customer information. In
response to requests from telecommunications companies, today's Order clarifies
these CPNI requirements.
Among the Commission's conclusions are the following:
- Carriers are permitted to use CPNI without customer approval to market
offerings related to the customer's existing service relationship with the
carrier. In other words, if a customer subscribes to a carrier's local and
wireless service, but not its long distance service, the carrier may use the
customer's CPNI to market offerings related to local or wireless service, but
not long distance service. For example, the carrier may use information about
the customer's local phone usage to market local service features such as caller
ID and call forwarding but not to market long distance service. The
Commission found this "total service approach" offers convenience for the
customer while preventing the use of CPNI in ways that the customer would
not expect.
- Before carriers may use CPNI to market service outside the customer's
existing service relationship, carriers must obtain customer approval. Such
approval may be written, oral, or electronic. In order to ensure that customers
are informed of their statutory rights before granting approval, carriers are
further required to provide a one-time notification of customers' CPNI rights
prior to any solicitation for approval.
- The Computer III CPNI framework, as well as other existing CPNI rules, are
superseded by today's comprehensive Order.
- The Commission concluded that only section 222 of the Act specifically
governs all carriers' use of CPNI, including the Bell Operating Companies
(BOCs). In doing so, the Commission revisited conclusions reached in its
Non-Accounting Safeguards and Electronic Publishing Orders that sections
272 and 274 of the Act impose additional obligations on the BOCs regarding
CPNI.
Finally, in a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission asked
for additional comment on three issues involving carrier duties and obligations
established under sections 222: whether a customer may restrict carrier use of CPNI
for all marketing purposes; the appropriate protections for carrier information and
additional enforcement mechanisms the Commission may apply; and the foreign
storage of, and access to, domestic CPNI.
Action by the Commission February 19, 1998 by Second Report and Order
and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 98-//). Chairman,
Commissioners.
-FCC-
News media contact: Rochelle Cohen at (202) 418-0253, TTY (202) 418-2555.
Common Carrier Bureau contacts: Dorothy Attwood or Tonya Rutherford
at (202) 418-1580.