WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, and co-chair of the Bi-Partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, today insisted that Congress tighten internal company and governmental controls to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of personal phone records. Pointing to how easily records are obtained on the Internet and elsewhere, Markey recognized the ”Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act” as necessary to step up enforcement and security in guarding the cornerstone of individual freedom, privacy.

Rep. Markey said, “A person’s telephone records can disclose some of the most intimate details of a person’s life.  Information about who you call, when you called, and how long you were on the phone can reveal a lot about a person, their relationships, their business dealings, their family members and children.  The public sale of this information can be embarrassing, awkward, and uncomfortable for a consumer.  It can also be dangerous when in the hands of stalkers, thieves, abusers, and others who intend to do harm.”

Rep. Markey has sponsored and cosponsored a number of bills to protect personal privacy, including tightening and clarifying anti-pretexting laws, and legislation to limit the commercial sales of Social Security Numbers.

Congressman Markey’s prepared statement follows below:

Good Morning.  I want to commend Chairman Dingell (D-MI) for calling this hearing today on the “Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act.” 

Mr. Chairman, personal privacy is the cornerstone of individual freedom.  A person’s telephone records can disclose some of the most intimate details of a person’s life.  Information about who you call, when you called, and how long you were on the phone can reveal a lot about a person, their relationships, their business dealings, their family members and children.  The public sale of this information can be embarrassing, awkward, and uncomfortable for a consumer.  It can also be dangerous when in the hands of stalkers, thieves, abusers, and others who intend to do harm.

Most troubling in my mind is the fact that last year this Committee discovered that pre-texting is not solely the province of individual, low-rent fraudsters who prey on vulnerable citizens.  In a shocking revelation last September, Hewlett-Packard – a Fortune 500 corporation – agreed to pay a $14.5 million penalty for illegal pre-texting.  Likewise, Washington hedge fund manager David Einhorn – who is testifying here today – fell victim to pre-texting when a financial services firm hired someone to illegally obtain his phone records. 

In the last Congress, this committee passed this important bill to ensure that consumer phone records are not for sale in some “cyberspace bazaar” and to take action to shut down these practices.

Last session’s bill, however, mysteriously disappeared from the House suspension calendar prior to House floor consideration, reportedly due to concerns from the intelligence community.  These concerns implicated the alleged disclosure of phone records by certain telephone companies to the National Security Agency, or others.  The pre-texting bill’s sudden disappearance represented a case of “extraordinary legislative rendition.”  

Under the Telecommunications Act, telephone companies are legally obligated to safeguard the confidentiality of phone records.  After the scandals of the last year, many phone companies certainly responded by tightening internal controls to prevent unauthorized disclosure of phone records.  While the fraudsters may be acting illegally using pre-texting, the fact that records are apparently so easily obtained on the Internet and elsewhere makes it self-evident that enforcement and security need to be stepped up. 

The FCC has been developing new rules to do just this for several months and we are eager for the Commission to finalize its action.  Doing so may obviate the need to legislate portions of the bill before us.  I also continue to believe it is important that the Commission, as an independent regulatory agency, investigate media reports regarding disclosure of consumer records by phone companies without legal process and in violation of the Communications Act.

Again, I thank Mr. Dingell for calling this hearing, and I look forward to working with him as well as Mr. Barton (R-TX), Mr. Upton (R-MI), Chairman Rush (D-IL), Mr. Stearns (R-FL) and our other Committee colleagues as this process moves forward. Thank you.