IP: Rueters-- Privacy and Consumer Groups File Brief in Telephone Privacy Case

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 10:55:47 -0400
> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
> From: Barry Steinhardt <Barrys () aclu org>
>
> Dave,
>
> I thought that the IP list might be interested in this story about the amicus brief filed by a number of privacy and 
> consumer advocated defending the FCC regulations that require companies to get their customers express permission 
> before using sensitive data such as persons called.
>
> Barry Steinhardt
>
> Privacy groups urge court to revive phone limits 
> WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Leading privacy groups on Monday asked a U.S. 
> federal appeals court to revive limits on the use of personal calling 
> information by phone companies. 
> A U.S. District Court in August struck down the Federal Communications 
> Commission's rule that required companies to obtain a customer's permission 
> before using data for marketing purposes on how customers use their phone 
> service. 
> The records include sensitive information such as who an individual calls, 
> when, for how long and how often, the groups noted in a "friend of the court" or 
> amicus brief filed with the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. 
> The groups supported the FCC's original decision that a company should be 
> forced to get permission from a customer -- a practice known as opt in -- before 
> using the records. 
> The district court found in favor of US West <USW.N> and other carriers that 
> the opt-in rule constituted a violation of the First Amendment's right to 
> freedom of speech. 
> Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union, 
> said the ruling could undermine a broad range of laws intended to protect 
> privacy. 
> "This is not a question of whether there is a First Amendment right to 
> commercial speech, but instead of whether corporations have a right to disclose 
> the sensitive personal information of their customers without consent," he said. 
> The brief was filed by 22 legal scholars and 15 groups including the American 
> Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the 
> Consumer Federation of America. 
> ((Aaron Pressman, Washington newsroom, 202-898-8312)) 
> Monday, 25 October 1999 18:35:48 
> RTRS [nN25499643]
>
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