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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN 
 Re:  1  st  Source  Information  Specialists,  Inc.,  d/  b/  a  LocateCell.  com,  Apparent  Liability  for  Forfeiture,  Notice  of  Apparent  Liability  for  Forfeiture,  EB  File  No.  EB-  05-  TC-  059;  FRN 
 0014762439;  NAL  Acct.  No.  200632170005. 


 Personal  privacy  is  at  the  heart  of  our  quality  of  life,  as  Congress  recognized  in  requiring  telecommunications  companies  to  respect  their  customers’  privacy.  A  consumer’s  telephone  call 
 records  include  some  of  the  most  private  personal  information  about  an  individual.  Not  surprisingly,  consumers  were  alarmed  when  it  came  to  light  over  the  past  year  that  their 
 telephone  records  were  widely  available  for  sale  on  the  Internet,  without  their  knowledge  or  approval,  to  anyone  with  an  Internet  connection  and  a  credit  card.  People  felt  that  having  their 
 incoming  and  outgoing  calls  available  for  public  view  was  like  having  their  personal  diaries  exposed.  Consumers  were  outraged  to  find  that  others  could  learn  about  calls  that  might  expose 
 their  business  transactions,  doctor  appointments,  and  personal  interactions. 
 Strong  and  consistent  Commission  enforcement  of  our  consumer  privacy  rules  is  critical  to  restore  the  protections  that  consumers  expect  and  that  Congress  has  mandated.  This  NAL  takes 
 aim  at  one  of  the  apparent  purveyors  of  consumers’  private  telephone  call  records  for  failure  to  comply  with  an  on-  going  Commission  investigation.  LocateCell’s  willful  and  repeated  failure  to 
 fully  cooperate  with  the  Commission’s  subpoena  jeopardizes  the  Commission’s  investigation,  and  warrants  the  maximum  penalty  for  repeated  non-  compliance  with  Commission  orders.  The 
 Commission  simply  cannot  condone  failure  to  cooperate  with  an  investigation  that  clearly  safeguards  the  public  interest. 


 This  NAL  must  also  be  part  of  a  larger  effort  to  address  the  widespread  availability  of  confidential  phone  records,  a  phenomenon  highlighted  in  press  reports  just  a  few  months  back 
 estimating  that  there  were  dozens  of  such  web  sites.  Shining  a  light  on  the  unauthorized  sale  of  telephone  records  may  drive  some  of  these  providers  off  the  Internet  –  a  positive  first  step.  Yet, 
 companies  like  LocateCell  appear  to  slip  underground  with  disquieting  ease,  which  may  pose  a  real  challenge  for  our  efforts  to  assess  this  forfeiture,  and  we  will  need  to  be  vigilant  against  the 
 ability  of  bad  actors  peddling  unauthorized  telephone  records  to  disappear  and  later  resurface. 
 Indeed,  we  have  a  lot  more  work  to  do  to  ensure  that  consumers  private  call  records  are  adequately  safeguarded.  It  is  essential  that  we  move  ahead  with  our  pending  rulemaking  on  our 
 consumer  privacy  rules  for  telephone  companies.  The  mere  fact  that  these  records  have  been  so  readily  available,  even  though  telephone  companies  are  required  to  have  firewalls  in  place  to 
 protect  consumers’  private  information,  has  raised  serious  questions  about  the  mechanisms  that  are  in  place  to  safeguard  the  confidentiality  of  their  consumers’  information.  So,  our  pending 
 rulemaking  proceeding  gives  us  an  important  opportunity  to  find  ways  to  tighten  our  rules,  to  ensure  that  phone  companies  are  employing  adequate  safeguards,  and  to  provide  greater  security 
 for  these  sensitive  consumer  records.  Every  provider  should  be  on  notice  that  we  are  watching  closely  and  will  take  the  action  necessary  to  protect  consumers'  privacy,  and  we  expect  them  to 
 do  the  same. 
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