HF 3238

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to public safety; establishing the crime of unlawful conduct relating to
telephone records; imposing criminal penalties; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 609.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [609.8935] UNLAWFUL CONDUCT RELATING TO TELEPHONE
RECORDS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin (a) As used in this section, the following terms have
the meanings given.
new text end

new text begin (b) "Customer" means a person or other entity that subscribes to telephone service
from a telephone company.
new text end

new text begin (c) "Procure" means to obtain by any means, whether electronically, in writing, or in
oral form, with or without consideration.
new text end

new text begin (d) "Telephone company" means any person or other entity that provides commercial
telephone service to a customer, irrespective of the communications technology used to
provide the service, including, but not limited to, traditional wireline or cable telephone
service; cellular, broadband PCS, or other wireless telephone service; microwave, satellite,
or other terrestrial telephone service; and voice over Internet telephone service.
new text end

new text begin (e) "Telephone records" include information retained by a telephone company that
relates to the telephone number dialed from a customer's telephone, or the incoming call
directed to a customer's telephone, or other data related to calls typically contained on
a customer's telephone bill, including, but not limited to, the time the call started and
ended, the duration of the call, the time of day the call was made, and any charges applied.
However, for the purposes of this section, any information collected and retained by
customers utilizing caller ID, or other similar technology, does not constitute a telephone
record.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Crime defined; penalty. new text end

new text begin (a) A person commits the crime of unlawful
conduct relating to telephone records if the person:
new text end

new text begin (1) knowingly procures a telephone record of another without that person's
authorization or by fraudulent, deceptive, or false means;
new text end

new text begin (2) knowingly sells a telephone record of another without that person's authorization;
or
new text end

new text begin (3) receives a telephone record of another knowing that the record has been obtained
without that person's authorization or by fraudulent, deceptive, or false means.
new text end

new text begin (b) A person who violates this subdivision may be sentenced to:
new text end

new text begin (1) imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more
than $10,000, or both, if the violation involves a single telephone record;
new text end

new text begin (2) imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more
than $20,000, or both, if the violation involves at least two and no more than ten telephone
records; or
new text end

new text begin (3) imprisonment for not more than 20 years or to payment of a fine of not more than
$100,000, or both, if the violation involves more than ten telephone records.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Exceptions. new text end

new text begin The penalties in this section do not apply to:
new text end

new text begin (1) peace officers or employees or agents of law enforcement agencies acting in
the official course of their duties;
new text end

new text begin (2) individuals acting pursuant to a valid court order, warrant, or subpoena;
new text end

new text begin (3) employees or agents of telephone companies acting:
new text end

new text begin (i) as otherwise authorized by law;
new text end

new text begin (ii) with the lawful consent of the customer;
new text end

new text begin (iii) as may be necessarily incident to the rendition of the service or to the protection
of the rights or property of the provider of that service, or to protect users of those services
and other companies from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of, or subscription to,
these services;
new text end

new text begin (iv) in cooperation with a governmental entity, if the telephone company reasonably
believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury
to any person justifies disclosure of the information;
new text end

new text begin (v) in cooperation with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
in connection with a report submitted to it under United States Code, title 42, section
13032; or
new text end

new text begin (vi) in connection with the sale or transfer of all or part of the company's business,
or the purchase or acquisition of a portion or all of a business, or the migration of a
customer from one company to another.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Enforcement. new text end

new text begin Violations of this section are enforceable by the attorney
general under section 8.31.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective August 1, 2006, and applies to crimes
committed on or after that date.
new text end