A Battle within the CPUC: Vote Set for Thursday on Cell Phone Privacy

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Federation of California (CFC), The Utility Reform Network (TURN), and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) are calling on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to revamp outdated telecom privacy rules.

This Thursday, Dec. 5, the CPUC will decide between two competing Commissioner proposals. One proposal grants, and the other denies, a petition submitted by CFC, TURN and PRC to initiate a wireless telecom privacy rulemaking proceeding.

Commissioner Sandoval, a law professor and telecom expert, penned a proposal that says the state, through the CPUC, should update outdated privacy rules to protect phone customers. Sandoval's proposal would initiate a privacy rulemaking, noting many changes to telecom practices and technologies since the CPUC reviewed the privacy rules decades ago.

At odds with Commissioner Sandoval's proposal, Commissioner Ferron wrote a proposal that would not allow the rulemaking to go forward because he finds there is no demonstrated privacy problem with cell phones. Commissioner Ferron dismisses privacy concerns because of a "lack of documented examples of actual breaches of customer privacy by telecommunications corporations," among other rationales.

"Too often we hear news about our personal information being sold or shared without our knowledge or consent. We can't trust corporate phone giants to make those decisions for us," said Richard Holober, CFC Executive Director.

In 1986, when the rules were drafted, phones didn't track location, bill payments and other personal information. But many rules governing phone privacy in California are inadequate to protect modern consumers' constitutional right to privacy, and privacy rules that apply to traditional residential landlines do not all apply to cell phones.

Today, mobile carriers as well as app developers can collect, store, and use a customer's personal information, regardless of their knowledge or consent. For example, over 140 million customers of Sprint, AT&T and other phone companies were tracked through their phones by Carrier IQ software that phone companies had quietly embedded in mobile devices without customers' permission. It records location, phone numbers, app downloads, and when text messages are sent or received.

Sandoval's proposal notes that Carrier IQ is not the only company tracking consumers. When Verizon Wireless customers navigate to websites on smart phones, information about the websites, as well as customers' location and demographic background, may be sold to businesses including malls, stadiums and billboard owners. 

"The phone companies have failed to protect our privacy," said TURN's Executive Director, Mark Toney. "When they force tracking software on unwitting customers, consumers really have no choice. That flies in the face of our constitutional right to privacy."

CFC, TURN and PRC petitioned the CPUC a year ago. The CPUC is scheduled to vote on Thursday, Dec. 5, whether to protect consumers' telecom privacy or to stay with outdated rules that were put in place before cell phones and data-mining applications existed.

Since 1960, the nonprofit Consumer Federation of California has worked to protect the rights of consumers. www.consumercal.org

SOURCE Consumer Federation of California

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