47 U.S.C. § 222 — Privacy of customer information

Page 56 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 222 ch. 652, 48 Stat. 1064, known as the Communications Act of 1934, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 609 of this title and Tables. AMENDMENTS 1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–104 struck out subsec. (a) relating to notification of State Governor and State commission, public hearing, and certification. 1990—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101–336 substituted ‘‘sec- tions 225 and 301’’ for ‘‘section 301’’. 1956—Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 2, 1956, inserted provisions relating to submission of comments by parties and re- quired a public hearing upon request, in lieu of former provisions requiring hearing upon application. 1954—Subsec. (b). Act Apr. 27, 1954, included mobile or point-to-point radio telephone exchange service within exclusions provided for in such subsection, where it is subject to regulation by a State commission or by local governmental authority, and made it clear that the Commission retains its licensing authority over the radio stations that might be involved in such service. § 222. Privacy of customer information (a) In general Every telecommunications carrier has a duty to protect the confidentiality of proprietary in- formation of, and relating to, other tele- communication carriers, equipment manufac- turers, and customers, including telecommuni- cation carriers reselling telecommunications services provided by a telecommunications car- rier. (b) Confidentiality of carrier information A telecommunications carrier that receives or obtains proprietary information from another carrier for purposes of providing any tele- communications service shall use such informa- tion only for such purpose, and shall not use such information for its own marketing efforts. (c) Confidentiality of customer proprietary net- work information (1) Privacy requirements for telecommuni- cations carriers Except as required by law or with the ap- proval of the customer, a telecommunications carrier that receives or obtains customer pro- prietary network information by virtue of its provision of a telecommunications service shall only use, disclose, or permit access to in- dividually identifiable customer proprietary network information in its provision of (A) the telecommunications service from which such information is derived, or (B) services nec- essary to, or used in, the provision of such telecommunications service, including the publishing of directories. (2) Disclosure on request by customers A telecommunications carrier shall disclose customer proprietary network information, upon affirmative written request by the cus- tomer, to any person designated by the cus- tomer. (3) Aggregate customer information A telecommunications carrier that receives or obtains customer proprietary network in- formation by virtue of its provision of a tele- communications service may use, disclose, or permit access to aggregate customer informa- tion other than for the purposes described in paragraph (1). A local exchange carrier may use, disclose, or permit access to aggregate customer information other than for purposes described in paragraph (1) only if it provides such aggregate information to other carriers or persons on reasonable and nondiscrim- inatory terms and conditions upon reasonable request therefor. (d) Exceptions Nothing in this section prohibits a tele- communications carrier from using, disclosing, or permitting access to customer proprietary network information obtained from its cus- tomers, either directly or indirectly through its agents— (1) to initiate, render, bill, and collect for telecommunications services; (2) to protect the rights or property of the carrier, or to protect users of those services and other carriers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of, or subscription to, such serv- ices; (3) to provide any inbound telemarketing, referral, or administrative services to the cus- tomer for the duration of the call, if such call was initiated by the customer and the cus- tomer approves of the use of such information to provide such service; and (4) to provide call location information con- cerning the user of a commercial mobile serv- ice (as such term is defined in section 332(d) of this title) or the user of an IP-enabled voice service (as such term is defined in section 615b of this title)— (A) to a public safety answering point, emergency medical service provider or emer- gency dispatch provider, public safety, fire service, or law enforcement official, or hos- pital emergency or trauma care facility, in order to respond to the user’s call for emer- gency services; (B) to inform the user’s legal guardian or members of the user’s immediate family of the user’s location in an emergency situa- tion that involves the risk of death or seri- ous physical harm; or (C) to providers of information or database management services solely for purposes of assisting in the delivery of emergency serv- ices in response to an emergency. (e) Subscriber list information Notwithstanding subsections (b), (c), and (d), a telecommunications carrier that provides tele- phone exchange service shall provide subscriber list information gathered in its capacity as a provider of such service on a timely and unbundled basis, under nondiscriminatory and reasonable rates, terms, and conditions, to any person upon request for the purpose of pub- lishing directories in any format. (f) Authority to use location information For purposes of subsection (c)(1), without the express prior authorization of the customer, a customer shall not be considered to have ap- proved the use or disclosure of or access to— (1) call location information concerning the user of a commercial mobile service (as such term is defined in section 332(d) of this title) or the user of an IP-enabled voice service (as Page 57 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 223 1 So in original. Probably should be subsection ‘‘(h)(3)(A)’’. such term is defined in section 615b of this title), other than in accordance with sub- section (d)(4); or (2) automatic crash notification information to any person other than for use in the oper- ation of an automatic crash notification sys- tem. (g) Subscriber listed and unlisted information for emergency services Notwithstanding subsections (b), (c), and (d), a telecommunications carrier that provides tele- phone exchange service or a provider of IP-en- abled voice service (as such term is defined in section 615b of this title) shall provide informa- tion described in subsection (i)(3)(A) 1 (including information pertaining to subscribers whose in- formation is unlisted or unpublished) that is in its possession or control (including information pertaining to subscribers of other carriers) on a timely and unbundled basis, under nondiscrim- inatory and reasonable rates, terms, and condi- tions to providers of emergency services, and providers of emergency support services, solely for purposes of delivering or assisting in the de- livery of emergency services. (h) Definitions As used in this section: (1) Customer proprietary network information The term ‘‘customer proprietary network in- formation’’ means— (A) information that relates to the quan- tity, technical configuration, type, destina- tion, location, and amount of use of a tele- communications service subscribed to by any customer of a telecommunications car- rier, and that is made available to the car- rier by the customer solely by virtue of the carrier-customer relationship; and (B) information contained in the bills per- taining to telephone exchange service or telephone toll service received by a cus- tomer of a carrier; except that such term does not include sub- scriber list information. (2) Aggregate information The term ‘‘aggregate customer information’’ means collective data that relates to a group or category of services or customers, from which individual customer identities and char- acteristics have been removed. (3) Subscriber list information The term ‘‘subscriber list information’’ means any information— (A) identifying the listed names of sub- scribers of a carrier and such subscribers’ telephone numbers, addresses, or primary advertising classifications (as such classi- fications are assigned at the time of the es- tablishment of such service), or any com- bination of such listed names, numbers, ad- dresses, or classifications; and (B) that the carrier or an affiliate has pub- lished, caused to be published, or accepted for publication in any directory format. (4) Public safety answering point The term ‘‘public safety answering point’’ means a facility that has been designated to receive emergency calls and route them to emergency service personnel. (5) Emergency services The term ‘‘emergency services’’ means 9–1–1 emergency services and emergency notifica- tion services. (6) Emergency notification services The term ‘‘emergency notification services’’ means services that notify the public of an emergency. (7) Emergency support services The term ‘‘emergency support services’’ means information or data base management services used in support of emergency services. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title II, § 222, as added Pub. L. 104–104, title VII, § 702, Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 148; amended Pub. L. 106–81, § 5, Oct. 26, 1999, 113 Stat. 1288; Pub. L. 110–283, title III, § 301, July 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 2625.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 222, act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title II, § 222, as added Mar. 6, 1943, ch. 10, § 1, 57 Stat. 5; amend- ed July 12, 1960, Pub. L. 86–624, § 36, 74 Stat. 421; Nov. 30, 1974, Pub. L. 93–506, § 2, 88 Stat. 1577; Dec. 24, 1980, Pub. L. 96–590, 94 Stat. 3414; Dec. 29, 1981, Pub. L. 97–130, § 2, 95 Stat. 1687, related to competition among record car- riers, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103–414, title III, § 304(a)(6), Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4297. AMENDMENTS 2008—Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 110–283, § 301(1), inserted ‘‘or the user of an IP-enabled voice service (as such term is defined in section 615b of this title)’’ after ‘‘sec- tion 332(d) of this title)’’ in introductory provisions. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 110–283, § 301(2), struck out ‘‘wire- less’’ before ‘‘location’’ in heading. Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 110–283, § 301(1), inserted ‘‘or the user of an IP-enabled voice service (as such term is de- fined in section 615b of this title)’’ after ‘‘section 332(d) of this title)’’. Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 110–283, § 301(3), inserted ‘‘or a pro- vider of IP-enabled voice service (as such term is de- fined in section 615b of this title)’’ after ‘‘telephone ex- change service’’. 1999—Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 106–81, § 5(1), added par. (4). Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 106–81, § 5(2), added subsecs. (f) and (g). Former subsec. (f) redesignated (h). Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 106–81, § 5(2)–(4), redesignated sub- sec. (f) as (h), inserted ‘‘location,’’ after ‘‘destination,’’ in par. (1)(A), and added pars. (4) to (7). § 223. Obscene or harassing telephone calls in the District of Columbia or in interstate or for- eign communications (a) Prohibited acts generally Whoever— (1) in interstate or foreign communica- tions— (A) by means of a telecommunications de- vice knowingly— (i) makes, creates, or solicits, and (ii) initiates the transmission of, any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other communication which is ob- scene or child pornography, with intent to abuse, threaten, or harass another person; (B) by means of a telecommunications de- vice knowingly—