HF 470

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to telecommunications; enacting the 
  1.3             Telecommunications Consumer Privacy Act; providing for 
  1.4             the privacy of telecommunications customer 
  1.5             information; requiring consent for disclosure of 
  1.6             customer information; providing penalties; amending 
  1.7             Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 13.681, by adding a 
  1.8             subdivision; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.9             Statutes, chapter 237. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 13.681, is 
  1.12  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.13     Subd. 5.  [TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER DATA.] Data 
  1.14  on customers of telecommunications service providers are 
  1.15  classified under section 237.83.  
  1.16     Sec. 2.  [237.82] [TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT; 
  1.17  DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.18     Subdivision 1.  [GENERALLY.] For purposes of sections 
  1.19  237.82 to 237.87, the following terms have the meanings given 
  1.20  them.  
  1.21     Subd. 2.  [AFFILIATE.] "Affiliate" means any person that 
  1.22  controls, is controlled by, or is under the common control with 
  1.23  a telecommunications service provider.  
  1.24     Subd. 3.  [AGGREGATE INFORMATION.] "Aggregate information" 
  1.25  means collective data that relate to a group or category of 
  1.26  services or customers from which individual customer identities 
  1.27  have been removed or cannot be ascertained.  
  2.1      Subd. 4.  [CUSTOMER.] "Customer" means an individual or 
  2.2   entity or authorized representative of an individual or entity 
  2.3   to whom a telecommunications service provider is providing or 
  2.4   has provided a telecommunications service.  
  2.5      Subd. 5.  [CUSTOMER INFORMATION.] "Customer information" 
  2.6   means individually identifiable information about a customer 
  2.7   that is available to a telecommunications service provider by 
  2.8   virtue of the relationship between the customer and the 
  2.9   provider, including information regarding the identity of 
  2.10  persons called or from whom calls were received, length and 
  2.11  dates of calls, account balances, bank account information for 
  2.12  automatic withdrawal and other purposes, payment records, 
  2.13  transaction histories, or credit information.  Aggregate 
  2.14  information is not customer information.  Subscriber list 
  2.15  information under section 237.86 is not customer information, 
  2.16  except for information about a subscriber that has requested not 
  2.17  to be listed. 
  2.18     Subd. 6.  [GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY.] "Government authority" 
  2.19  means any agency or department of the state or a local unit of 
  2.20  government, or any officer, employee, or agent of it. 
  2.21     Subd. 7.  [TELECOMMUNICATIONS.] "Telecommunications" means 
  2.22  the transmission, between or among points specified by the user, 
  2.23  of information of the user's choosing, without change in the 
  2.24  form or content of the information as sent and received.  
  2.25     Subd. 8.  [TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.] (a) 
  2.26  "Telecommunications service" means:  
  2.27     (1) the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly 
  2.28  to the public, or to classes of users as to be effectively 
  2.29  available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities 
  2.30  used; and 
  2.31     (2) any service subject to this chapter, provided to a 
  2.32  customer at retail for ultimate consumption.  
  2.33     (b) Telecommunications service does not include a service 
  2.34  furnished by one provider to another for resale. 
  2.35     Subd. 9.  [TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE 
  2.36  PROVIDER.] "Telecommunications service provider" means a 
  3.1   provider of a telecommunications service, including an 
  3.2   independent telephone company, telephone company, or 
  3.3   telecommunications carrier; a municipality that provides a 
  3.4   telecommunications service; or a cellular or other wireless 
  3.5   telecommunications service provider.  
  3.6      Sec. 3.  [237.83] [PRIVACY OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION.] 
  3.7      Subdivision 1.  [DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY.] Except as 
  3.8   required by law or with the specific, express, prior consent of 
  3.9   the customer under section 237.84, a telecommunications service 
  3.10  provider that receives or obtains customer information about a 
  3.11  customer by virtue of its provision of a telecommunications 
  3.12  service to the customer shall only disclose or permit access to 
  3.13  that customer information in its provision of:  
  3.14     (1) the telecommunications service from which the private 
  3.15  information is derived; or 
  3.16     (2) services necessary to, or used in, the provision of the 
  3.17  telecommunications service, if the entity receiving the 
  3.18  information complies with the provisions of sections 237.82 to 
  3.19  237.87. 
  3.20     Subd. 2.  [EXCEPTIONS.] Sections 237.82 to 237.87 do not 
  3.21  prohibit a telecommunications service provider from disclosing 
  3.22  or permitting access to customer information: 
  3.23     (1) if necessary to initiate, render, bill, or collect for 
  3.24  telecommunications services; 
  3.25     (2) if necessary to protect the rights or property of the 
  3.26  telecommunications service provider or to protect other users of 
  3.27  the telecommunications service provider's services and other 
  3.28  providers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of or 
  3.29  subscription to telecommunications services; 
  3.30     (3) if requested by a government authority pursuant to a 
  3.31  subpoena or court order; or 
  3.32     (4) to an affiliate of the telecommunications service 
  3.33  provider for the purpose of providing telecommunications 
  3.34  services to the customer, if the affiliate receiving the 
  3.35  information complies with the provisions of sections 237.82 to 
  3.36  237.87.  
  4.1      Subd. 3.  [GOVERNMENT DATA.] Customer information obtained 
  4.2   by a government authority from a telecommunications service 
  4.3   provider is private data on individuals, as defined in section 
  4.4   13.02, subdivision 12, unless specifically classified by other 
  4.5   law.  Long-distance telephone bills paid for by the state or a 
  4.6   political subdivision are public data under section 10.46. 
  4.7      Subd. 4.  [AGGREGATE CUSTOMER INFORMATION.] Disclosure of 
  4.8   aggregate customer information by a telecommunications service 
  4.9   provider must be made on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms 
  4.10  and conditions.  
  4.11     Sec. 4.  [237.84] [CUSTOMER NOTICE AND CONSENT FOR 
  4.12  DISCLOSURE.] 
  4.13     Subdivision 1.  [NOTICE.] (a) Before an initial request for 
  4.14  customer consent to the release of customer information and 
  4.15  annually after that time, a telecommunications service provider 
  4.16  shall notify the customer of the customer's right to control 
  4.17  disclosure of and access to information on the customer.  A 
  4.18  telecommunications service provider shall provide this notice in 
  4.19  writing directly to the customer.  The notice must be labeled 
  4.20  "IMPORTANT PRIVACY INFORMATION."  The notice must provide 
  4.21  sufficient information to enable the customer to make an 
  4.22  informed decision as to whether to consent to disclosure of or 
  4.23  access to information on the customer.  
  4.24     (b) A telecommunications service provider shall notify each 
  4.25  customer annually of any currently valid consents the customer 
  4.26  has executed.  
  4.27     Subd. 2.  [CONSENT.] A consent to the release of customer 
  4.28  information must be in writing and signed by the customer or by 
  4.29  electronic means.  The public utilities commission shall, within 
  4.30  120 days of final enactment of this section, develop and issue 
  4.31  by order a method by which a customer may consent electronically 
  4.32  to disclosure of and access to information on the customer under 
  4.33  this section.  The consent must be contained on a separate page 
  4.34  that clearly and conspicuously discloses and allows the customer 
  4.35  to specify:  
  4.36     (1) the time during which the consent is effective, which 
  5.1   may not be longer than five years; 
  5.2      (2) each category of customer information that may be 
  5.3   disclosed, including identities of persons called or from whom 
  5.4   calls were received, length and dates of calls, account 
  5.5   balances, bank account information, payment records, transaction 
  5.6   histories, or credit information; and 
  5.7      (3) the persons to whom disclosures may be made. 
  5.8      Sec. 5.  [237.85] [PENALTIES.] 
  5.9      In addition to other penalties provided in this chapter, 
  5.10  the attorney general may use its existing authority and remedies 
  5.11  against any telecommunications service provider who violates 
  5.12  section 237.82 or 237.84. 
  5.13     Sec. 6.  [237.86] [SUBSCRIBER LIST INFORMATION.] 
  5.14     (a) The commission shall require a telecommunications 
  5.15  service provider that provides local telecommunications services 
  5.16  to provide subscriber list information gathered in its capacity 
  5.17  as a provider of those services in a timely and unbundled basis 
  5.18  under nondiscriminatory and reasonable rates, terms, and 
  5.19  conditions to any person upon request for the purpose of 
  5.20  publishing telephone directories, to the extent required by 
  5.21  federal law and consistent with the purposes of sections 237.82 
  5.22  to 237.87.  
  5.23     (b) "Subscriber list information" means the list of names 
  5.24  of subscribers of a telecommunications service provider and the 
  5.25  subscribers' telephone numbers and addresses that the 
  5.26  telecommunications service provider, or an affiliate, has 
  5.27  published, caused to be published, or accepted for publication 
  5.28  in any directory format.  Information about a subscriber that 
  5.29  has requested not to be listed is not subscriber list 
  5.30  information.  
  5.31     Sec. 7.  [237.87] [AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION UNAFFECTED.] 
  5.32     Nothing in sections 237.82 to 237.86 is intended to limit 
  5.33  the existing authority of the public utilities commission under 
  5.34  state or federal law with respect to the disclosure of 
  5.35  information.  A telecommunications service provider that obtains 
  5.36  information pursuant to the commission's existing authority may 
  6.1   only disclose or permit access to that information as provided 
  6.2   in sections 237.83 and 237.84. 
  6.3      Sec. 8.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  6.4      Sections 1 to 7 are effective the day following final 
  6.5   enactment.