102ND CONGRESS; 1ST SESSION IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AS REPORTED IN THE SENATE S. 652 1991 S. 652 SYNOPSIS: A BILL To protect the privacy of telephone users by amending section 3121 of title 18, United States Code. DATE OF INTRODUCTION: MARCH 13, 1991 DATE OF VERSION: DECEMBER 1, 1991 -- VERSION: 3 SPONSOR(S): Mr. KOHL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation TEXT: MARCH 21 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 6), 1991 Committee discharged; ordered referred to the Committee on the Judiciary NOVEMBER 26 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 23), 1991 Reported by Mr. BIDEN, with an amendment Strike out all after the enactiang clause and insert the part printed in italic ------------------------------------- A BILL To protect the privacy of telephone users by amending section 3121 of title 18, United States Code. * Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United* *States of America in Congress assembled, * ** SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the " Telephone Privacy Act of 1991". SEC. 2. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to protect the right to privacy of telephone users by enabling them to limit the dissemination of their telephone numbers to persons of their choosing. SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 18 . Section 3121 of title 18, United States Code, is amended- (1) in subsection (b) by- (A) striking "or" after the semicolon at the end of paragraph (2); (B) striking paragraph (3); (C) adding after paragraph (2) the following: "(3) if the nongovernmental recipient of wire or electronic communication consents and its provider enables any originator to block receipt of any individually identifying information about the originator without charge, except that the provider is not required to enable an originator to block receipt of the individually identifying information on the emergency assistance telephone line of a State or municipal police or fire department, or on a 911 emergency line; or "(4) on the emergency assistance telephone line of a State or municipal police or fire department, or on a 911 emergency line."; (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection: "(c) CIVIL ACTION.-Any user of wire or electronic communication service aggrieved by a provider's failure to enable an originator to block receipt of the individually identifying information without charge under subsection (b)(3) may recover from the provider in accordance with section 2707 of this title.". * * *SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. * * * * This Act may be cited as the " Telephone Privacy Act of 1991". * * * *SEC. 2. PURPOSES. * * * * The purposes of this Act are- * * * * (1) to protect the right to privacy of telephone users by enabling* * them to limit the dissemination of their telephone numbers to * * persons of their choosing; and * * * * (2) to encourage the use of new services such as call trace, call * * reject, and call return, which operate to discourage harassing and * * obscene telephone calls even though information identifying the * * caller may be blocked. * * * *SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE. * * * * (a) PROHIBITIONS.-Section 3121 of title 18, United States Code, is * *amended to read as follows: * * * *"3121. General prohibition on pen register and trap and trace device * *use; exceptions * * * * "(a) IN GENERAL.-Except as provided in this section, no person may * *install or use a pen register or a trap and trace device without first * *obtaining a court order under section 3123 of this title or under the * *Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). * * * * "(b) EXCEPTIONS.-(1)(A) The prohibition of subsection (a) does not * *apply with respect to the use of a pen register or a trap and trace * *device by a provider of electronic or wire communication service- * * * * "(i) relating to the operation, maintenance, and testing of a wire* * or electronic communication service or to the protection of the * * rights or property of such provider, or to the protection of users * * of that service from abuse of service or unlawful use of service; * * * * "(ii) to record the fact that a wire or electronic communication * * was initiated or completed in order to protect such provider, * * another provider furnishing service toward the completion of the * * wire communication, or a user of that service, from fraudulent, * * unlawful or abusive use of service; or * * * * "(iii) if the provider of the electronic or wire communication * * service permits the originator of a communication to a recipient to * * block caller identification- * * * * "(I) on a per call basis without charge; * * * * "(II) on a per line basis with or without charge, in a State * * in which it is authorized by statute or regulation prior to the * * date of enactment of this clause, and at the request of the * * originator; and * * * * "(III) on a per line basis without charge at the request of an* * originator that is a victim of domestic violence protected by * * court order, a victim's service program, or a battered women's * * shelter or other organization providing safe haven for victims * * of domestic violence. * * * * "(B) Subparagraph (A)(iii) shall not be construed to require a * *provider of electronic or wire communication service to enable an * *originator of a communication to block caller identification- * * "(i) on the emergency assistance telephone line of a State or * * municipal police or fire department or on a 911 emergency line; * * "(ii) on calls within a customer's system; or * * "(iii) to a recipient of a communication that uses call return * * service in connection with billing information associated with * * returned communications. * * "(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the prohibition of subsection (a) * *applies with respect to the use of a pen register or a trap and trace * *device in connection with all communications to governmental entities * *except a communication on the emergency assistance telephone line of a * *State or municipal police or fire department or on a 911 emergency line.* * "(3) The prohibition of subsection (a) does not apply with respect to * *the use of information that is made available to a recipient through an * *automatic number identification service, to the extent that the use * *consists of- * * "(A) use for billing and collection, routing, screening, and * * completion of the originating telephone subscriber's call or * * transaction, or for services directly related to the originating * * telephone subscriber's call or transaction; * * "(B) reuse or sale after the recipient orally notifies the * * originator of the recipient's desire to reuse or sell the * * information and extends to the originator an option to limit or * * prohibit such reuse or sale; * * "(C) use for the purposes of- * * "(i) performing a service or transaction that is the subject * * of the communication; * * "(ii) ensuring the quality of network performance, the * * maintenance of security, or the effectiveness of call delivery; * * "(iii) compiling, using, or disclosing aggregate information; * * "(iv) complying with law or a court order; or * * "(v) offering to an originator of a communication with which * * the recipient has an established customer relationship a product* * or service that is directly related to products or services that* * the originator has previously purchased from the recipient of * * the communication; or * * "(D) use for any lawful purpose if there is available to the * * originator of the communication the ability to block caller * * indentification to the recipient- * * "(i) on a per call basis without charge; or * * "(ii) on a per line basis with or without charge in a State in* * which it is authorized by statute or regulation prior to the * * date of enactment of this clause and offered in combination with* * blocking on a per call basis without charge. * * "(c) CIVIL ACTION.-(1) An originator of a communication that is * *aggrieved by the knowing or intentional failure of a provider of * *communication service to allow blocking of caller identification as * *described in subsections (b)(1)(A)(iii), (b)(1)(B), and (b)(2) may * *recover from the provider in accordance with section 2707. * * "(2) An originator of a communication that is aggrieved by the knowing* *or intentional use of caller identification information by the recipient* *of the communication in violation of subsection (b)(3) may recover from * *the recipient in accordance with section 2707. * * "(d) PENALTY.-Whoever knowingly violates subsection (a) shall be fined* *under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. * * "(e) PREEMPTION.-Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no State * *may prohibit, in any way other than in accordance with subsections (a) * *and (b), the making available by providers of electronic or wire * *communication services or the use by their customers of caller * *identification service. * * "(f) INTENT OF CONGRESS.-This section is intended neither to endorse * *nor to facilitate the use of blocking of caller identification by * *originators of obscene or harassing telephone calls, nor is it intended * *to limit the enforcement of laws prohibiting such telephone calls.". * * (b) DEFINITIONS.-Section 3127 of title 18, United States Code, is * *amended- * * (1) by striking "and" at the end of paragraph (5); * * (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (6) and * * inserting a semicolon; and * * (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: * * "(7) the term 'automatic number identification service' means an * * access signaling protocol in common use by common carriers that uses* * an identifying signal associated with the use of a subscriber's * * telephone to provide billing information or other information to the* * local exchange carrier or any other interconnecting carriers. * * "(8) the term 'block' means to prevent or control, and the term * * 'blocking' means a service that allows the originator of a call to * * prevent or control, the transmission of information that identifies * * the originator to the recipient of the call; and * * "(9) the term 'caller identification' means the transmission of * * information that identifies the originator of a communication to the* * recipient of the communication.". *