Protecting phone records: Congress considers a bill, while the FCC tightens regulatory requirements on telecoms to better safeguard personal data.(Technofile)(Federal Communications Commission)

Security Management, June, 2007 by Davidson, Mary Alice

PRIVATE PHONE RECORDS often end up in the hands of data brokers, and phone companies face few consequences for not protecting the information. Some members of Congress want to raise the bar by passing the Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act (H.R. 936). But complying with the proposed security requirements could add $12 to $64 to the cost of a telephone line, according to Walter B. McCormick, president and CEO of the United States Telecom Association, who spoke at a hearing on the bill.

The intent of the act is to add teeth to the legal sanctions against pretexting, a practice in which the perpetrator uses a false motive, or a pretext, to obtain access to personal information, such as phone records.

Professional pretexters sell the...

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