IP: Phone Companies Preparing to "Share" Personal Info

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 20:16:15 -0700
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat org>
>
> Customers of Qwest, the Bell monopoly covering 14 midwestern and western 
> states from Minnesota to Washington, recently enclosed a small, 
> easily-missed brochure with customer bills. This brochure, similar to the 
> ones sent out by banks in the summer of 2001, informs telephone customers 
> that unless they devote time and effort to opting out, their personal 
> information will be "shared with" other companies controlled by Qwest 
> (including unregulated subsidiaries which could use the information to get 
> a leg up on competitors). What's more, in the fine print, Qwest claims the 
> right to disseminate or sell customers' personal and private information 
> -- including calling records -- whenever it believes that it is 
> "commercially reasonable," even if the consumer does opt out.... Making 
> the pretense of care for consumers' privacy a sham.
>
> Here's the text of Qwest's announcement, together with "translations" of 
> some of its language.
>
> --Brett Glass
>
> -----------------
>
> > IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING YOUR QWEST ACCOUNT INFORMATION
> >
> > The following information does not impact your Qwest billing.
>
> So, we're hoping you will be too busy paying your bills and dealing with 
> other logistics of daily life to read it.
>
> > Qwest has a long history of treating customer account information 
> > confidentially. We think that's one reason you trust us.
>
> Actually, we know that most telephone consumers do not trust their local 
> telephone companies one bit, but believe that their account information is 
> required by law to be treated confidentially. By sending you this small 
> brochure, which you're likely to miss, we're hoping to shore up our legal 
> position in the event that consumers become (justifiably) outraged at what 
> we are about to do.
>
> > As we develop new services, we want to maintain your trust while 
> > continuing to meet your service needs with innovative products. By 
> > sharing account information among Qwest's family of companies, and by 
> > aggregating information to learn more about trends and purchasing 
> > patterns, we can serve you better.
>
> ...by sending you promotional literature, unsolicited e-mail, and similar 
> unwanted marketing material. We also want to get a leg up on those pesky 
> competitors who dare to challenge our monopolies (or near-monopolies) in 
> telephone directories and local exchange service, or who are attempting to 
> provide wireless service in our rightful domain.
>
> > All telecommunications carriers have a duty to treat customer account 
> > information confidentially, by law. If you don't currently subscribe to a 
> > particular telecommunications service, you have a right to prohibit us 
> > from sharing account information for marketing purposes with other Owest 
> > business divisions. For, example, if you have local service with Qwest 
> > but not wireless service, you can ask us not to share the local service 
> > information with the wireless part of our business.
>
> However, we have taken the liberty of reinterpreting your rights under the 
> law to consist of the right to opt OUT, not a requirement that you 
> specifically opt IN.
>
> > Account information includes details about your service, such as how many 
> > lines you have; features you may subscribe to or use (such as Caller ID, 
> > Call Waiting, and Last Call Return); information about wireless services, 
> > if you have them; as well as calling and billing records. For toll calls 
> > that you are billed for, the information includes the number the call 
> > comes from, the number it goes to and how many minutes the call takes.
>
> We will make all of this information available to parties whom you 
> probably would not want to see it unless you explicitly opt out.
>
> > We expect to share account information with Qwest companies, many of 
> > which you probably already know. These include Owest Corporation (your 
> > local telephone company), Owest Wireless, Owest DEX (our directories 
> > division), Owest Communications Corporation (our long distance division), 
> > and our Internet operations. In the future we may change our structure or 
> > enter new lines of business (for example, we hope to offer interexchange 
> > long distance services in our states over the next year or two). As such 
> > changes happen, we will also share account information when it helps to 
> > provide you quality services, packages and promotions.
> >
> > You don't have to do anything to permit us to use your information. If 
> > you do not want us to share account information within the Qwest family 
> > of companies, let us know within the next 30 days. Residential customers 
> > should call toll free 1-877-628-3732.
>
> When you call this number, you will be asked to enter your phone number 
> via your Touch Tone keypad. While this would be sufficient to allow you to 
> opt out, it will not be the end of the process. Instead, you'll be put on 
> hold -- and, if you're patient enough, will be connected to an operator, 
> who will ask you again for your number (as if you had not already entered 
> it) and then for other information. We're hoping that the process will be 
> inconvenient enough that you won't complete it.
>
> > For business customers, contact your Qwest representative or call the 
> > business office telephone number on your Qwest bill. Both business and 
> > residential customers may also let us know their preference by using the 
> > following web site: www.qwest.com/cpni.
>
> At this Web site, you'll be asked to enter far more information than is 
> necessary to identify your account. We hope that you will find this 
> process to be too inconvenient to complete, and/or will make a mistake 
> when entering the information so that we can justify disqualifying your 
> request.
>
> > If we do not hear from you within 30 days, we'll use the account 
> > information in the ways described here.
>
> We are not, however, specifying when this 30-day period begins. It is, of 
> course, to our advantage to start it as early as possible -- at the date 
> printed on your bill, for example, rather than the date when you get it. 
> This way, if you don't pay your bill until the due date, or are late in 
> paying it, you may miss the deadline by the time you see this notice.
>
> > Of course, if you change your mind in the future, you can always contact 
> > us to change your decision.
>
> But if you opt out even one day late, we can't, of course, take back the 
> information that we will already have distributed.
>
> > Whatever you decide will not affect the quality of the Qwest products and 
> > services you use now or your ability to order new products from us in the 
> > future. But, it may mean you are not informed of special offers or new 
> > products or services, packaged offerings, or promotions.
> >
> > Even if you notify us not to use account information for marketing 
> > purposes, by law we can and do use such information for reasons you might 
> > expect -- billing, collection, and protecting ourselves and others 
> > against unlawful acts such as fraud or theft of service. And your name, 
> > address and telephone number are not generally considered confidential 
> > account information.
>
> Therefore, we reserve the right to sell this information to marketers, et 
> cetera, even if you opt out and/or have an unlisted telephone number.
>
> > We also mingle information together about groups or categories of 
> > services or customers so that specific customers are not identified.
> >
> > We will, of course, provide your account information to anyone you want 
> > us to  such as other carriers or service providers  so long as the 
> > request comes from you personally and is in writing.
> >
> > We also sometimes disclose account information to third parties who are 
> > not part of the Qwest family of companies when required by law, when it 
> > furthers prompt and accurate delivery of your service, or when it is 
> > commercially reasonable to do so.
>
> Needless to say, as a publicly traded corporation, we believe that it is 
> "commercially reasonable" to maximize our return to our stockholders. So, 
> now that we have "notified" you of this policy by including a small slip 
> with your phone bill, we will reserve the right to sell your name, 
> address, and telephone number to anyone who will pay a sufficient price -- 
> even if you have attempted to opt out or have an unlisted telephone number.
>
> > So, we provide account information when presented with lawful demands by 
> > regulatory agencies, subpoenas, or law enforcement. Qwest is also 
> > required to provide account information to other carriers when they tell 
> > us you have consented and they need the information to offer you their 
> > services. We may provide account information to companies where the 
> > "service package" involves part of a Qwest service (a DSL line, for 
> > example) and part of another company's service (like Internet access), so 
> > that the service you receive works despite there being two companies 
> > involved. There are other examples, also.
>
> And we are leaving ourselves a large loophole here by failing to be 
> specific about what they are.
>
> > We may provide account information to companies that provide support 
> > services to us (such as billing or account management) and to firms that 
> > have marketing agreements with us.
>
> Which any firm can probably establish with us if it is not a competitor 
> and is willing to pay a sufficient amount of money.
>
> > We also may disclose account information if we decide to sell a line of 
> > business to another company, so that you can continue to receive service 
> > with as little disruption as possible.
> >
> > We believe our information practices promote your interests and ours.
>
> But mostly ours.
>
> > We are better able to understand the kinds of services you have and might 
> > like to receive in the future.
>
> And lock you in as a customer before a competitive market can rear its 
> ugly head.
>
> > And we can limit our contacts with you to those times when we have 
> > products you may be interested in hearing about.
>
> Which we, rather than you, will determine.
>
> > Please note: Not all of Owest's information practices are included in 
> > this short notice about account information. Also, we may make changes in 
> > the future to the way in which we share account information internally or 
> > disclose it outside our company. You can learn more about Qwest's privacy 
> > policies and information practices by visiting Qwest's web site at 
> > www.qwest.com.
>
> However, the privacy policy posted there, which can be reached by clicking 
> link at the bottom of the home page which says "Privacy," is riddled with 
> even more loopholes than the stated policies in this brochure. And at the 
> end, there's an especially chilling statement:
>
> "To improve the services it can offer you, Qwest may opt to expand its 
> capabilities for obtaining information about users in the future."
>
> Does this give you the creeps? If so, you'll have to complain to your 
> legislators and hope that, somehow, you can overcome the influence of our 
> large campaign contributions and constant lobbying. Good luck.
>
> -----------------

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