**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

+----------------------------------+----+------------------------------+
| In the Matter of                 | *  | CC Docket No. 91-281         |
|                                  | *) |                              |
| INSIGHT 100 Petition for Waiver  | ** |                              |
| of                               |    |                              |
|                                  | *  |                              |
| § 64.1601(b) Regarding the       | *) |                              |
| Transmission                     | ** |                              |
|                                  |    |                              |
| of Calling Party Number          | *  |                              |
|                                  | *) |                              |
|                                  | ** |                              |
|                                  |    |                              |
|                                  | *  |                              |
|                                  | *) |                              |
|                                  | ** |                              |
|                                  |    |                              |
|                                  | *  |                              |
|                                  | *) |                              |
|                                  | ** |                              |
+----------------------------------+----+------------------------------+

**MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER**

**Adopted: January 4, 2002 Released: January 4, 2002**

By the Acting Chief, Network Services Division:

# introduction

1.  INSIGHT 100, Inc., has filed a petition requesting a limited waiver
    of Section 64.1601(b) of the Commission's rules. Section 64.1601(b)
    governs the transmission of the calling party number (CPN) by common
    carriers on the terminating end of a call.[^1] INSIGHT 100 requests
    the waiver to permit certain operators of central office-class
    equipment to receive CPN on terminating calls as part of the
    technical capabilities of the equipment. For the reasons stated
    herein, we grant the petition for a limited waiver.

# background

2.  INSIGHT 100 is a non-profit corporation consisting of educational
    institutions, hospitals, businesses, and other organizations.
    INSIGHT 100's members provide non-public communications to unique,
    closed groups of users consisting of students, patients and staff on
    campuses. These entities operate central office (CO) class equipment
    that function as end-office equivalents for the lines they serve.
    Like other end office switches, these devices have the ability to
    capture CPN and privacy indicators transmitted to the switch by the
    terminating carrier and to block transmission of CPN at the switch
    if required by the privacy indicator.

3.  INSIGHT 100 states that a significant number of its members also
    share another unique characteristic: they provide extensive
    residential facilities to students and patients and are responsible
    for the delivery of emergency response and public safety services
    within their campuses. In particular, INSIGHT 100 includes a number
    of state and private universities and many public and private
    hospitals and medical systems.

4.  INSIGHT 100 argues that the ability of its member institutions to
    perform their security and emergency response duties is severely
    impaired by their inability to fully use features of their CO-class
    devices known as "Customer-Originated Trace" (COT) and system
    "traps." COT and traps enable operators of CO-class equipment to
    determine on a real-time basis the origin of telephone calls
    processed by the equipment. To use the COT functions, the equipment
    operator must receive the CPN for calls terminating at their site
    from the interconnecting carriers. Without access to the CPN,
    university and hospital emergency response and security forces
    cannot use COT functions to determine the identity of a caller on a
    real-time basis. COT functions, therefore, are not available to
    identify threats to on-campus residents or staff or to dispatch
    emergency assistance to a caller for whom the university or hospital
    is responsible.

5.  INSIGHT 100 states that common carriers serving its members have
    refused to pass CPN and privacy indicator data to the members'
    switches because, they state, Section 64.1601(b) prohibits them from
    doing so. Accordingly, INSIGHT 100 seeks a limited waiver on behalf
    of its members that would permit carriers serving them to pass on
    CPN and privacy indicator data.[^2] Metrocare opposes certain
    aspects of INSIGHT 100's petition, arguing that CPN should be passed
    on to university or hospital equipment only with requests for
    emergency assistance. Stanford University replies to Metrocare's
    partial opposition, stating that the CO-class equipment used by the
    subject universities and hospitals would prevent private CPN from
    being transmitted to called residents.

6.  *Section 64.1601(b).* Section 64.1601(b) states that "\[c\]arriers
    must arrange their CPN-based services, and billing practices, in
    such a manner that when a caller requests that the CPN not be
    passed, a carrier may not reveal that caller's number or name, nor
    may the carrier use the number or name to allow the called party to
    contact the calling party."[^3] The purpose of this rule is to allow
    "the calling public to exercis\[e\] a measure of control over the
    dissemination of telephone numbers."[^4] As discussed in the *1994
    Caller ID Order*, section 64.1601(b) was established to address
    concerns raised in the rulemaking proceeding that some individuals
    making calls would not want their telephone number revealed to a
    called party for reasons of privacy and personal security.[^5]

7.  *Waiver Standard*. The Commission may waive any of its rules if the
    petitioner shows "good cause."[^6] Waiver may be granted if (1) a
    waiver would better serve the public interest than would application
    of the rule; and (2) special circumstances warrant a deviation from
    the general rule.[^7] Circumstances that would justify a waiver
    include "considerations of hardship, equity, or more effective
    implementation of overall policy."[^8] The waiver must have
    identifiable standards that are predictable, workable, and not
    susceptible to discriminatory application.[^9] Generally, the
    Commission may grant a waiver of its rules only if the relief
    requested would not undermine the policy objective of the rule in
    question, and would otherwise serve the public interest.[^10]

# discussion

8.  We conclude that INSIGHT 100 meets the standard for waiver of
    section 64.1601(b), subject to limitations that will protect the
    privacy and confidentiality of calling parties. The need to insure
    public safety can, under certain circumstances, take precedence over
    a caller's ability to maintain the privacy of his or her telephone
    number. In particular, the Commission concluded in the *1994 Caller
    ID Order* that "\[t\]o the extent that CPN based services are used
    to deliver emergency services, we find that privacy requirements for
    CPN based services should not apply to delivery of the CPN to a
    public agency's emergency line, a poison control line, or in
    conjunction with 911 emergency services.[^11]

9.  The limited waiver requested by INSIGHT 100 in this instance
    satisfies the standard established by the Commission and the courts.
    First, we agree with INSIGHT 100 that the "public interest" is
    served by waiving this rule because entities will be better able to
    protect the health and safety of the persons to whom they provide
    residential facilities and emergency response services.[^12]
    Further, we agree that deviation from section 64.1601(b) "better
    serves the public interest" under these special circumstances
    because (1) the entities qualifying for the waiver would be able to
    provide rapid and appropriate responses to distress calls and
    threatening or abusive calls; (2) the entities qualifying for the
    waiver, not the carriers, are the providers of both the end office
    equivalent communications service and the public safety functions
    that are impaired by any delay in obtaining CPN; and (3) the privacy
    interests of incoming callers are preserved, as entities eligible
    for this waiver are required to honor the privacy flags of incoming
    calls, and to implement safeguards to protect the confidentiality of
    calling party information. Therefore, the requested limited waiver
    protects both public safety and privacy. Finally, we conclude that
    because only a narrow and well-defined class of public institutions
    qualifies for this limited waiver, the standard is predictable and
    workable. Discriminatory application will thus be avoided. Future
    parties will be on notice of the precise scope of the waiver and the
    concrete requirements to be eligible for the waiver.

10. *Scope of the Waiver.* The waiver granted herein is limited to
    entities that meet the following criteria: (1) the entity is a
    hospital or a university; (2) the entity provides residential
    facilities or services within a defined geographic area under the
    control of the institution; (3) the entity has primary or exclusive
    responsibility for the emergency response and/or security services
    provided to residents of the area; (4) the entity provides
    telecommunications services within the geographic area by operating
    central office-class equipment that is capable of receiving and
    properly interpreting the Privacy Indicator, and (5) the entity
    complies with the Commission's rules requiring blocking of CPN to
    the called party when the incoming call is marked "private."

11. To be eligible for the waiver, entities are specifically prohibited
    from using CPN for any purpose other than emergency response or
    security services. Entities who qualify for the waiver are
    prohibited from allowing any other party access to CPN, other than
    legally authorized law enforcement agencies. Moreover, qualifying
    entities must implement privacy protection measures so that no
    unauthorized persons gain access to CPN. We require qualifying
    entities to implement the following procedures to avoid inadvertent
    or intentional release of CPN to unauthorized persons:

-   Access to the electro-magnetic (disk) and physical files that
    contain call trace logs (including the CPN of incoming callers) must
    be restricted. Restrictions must include use of a dedicated device
    to log the call traces, physical restrictions on access to the
    computer terminals that can view these calling logs, and logical
    restrictions such as password protection and a limit on the number
    of designated staff with computer or other access to the call trace
    logs.

-   Staff with access to the call trace logs shall be limited to those
    who routinely work with the logs and designated management.
    Designated management may provide to law enforcement or security
    personnel such CPN information as is necessary to carry out
    emergency or security functions. All personnel with access to the
    call trace logs shall be required to enter into non-disclosure
    agreements regarding CPN information, and shall be subject to
    penalties such as dismissal from employment and/or monetary
    penalties for unauthorized disclosure.

-   Any lawful requests from law enforcement agencies for print outs of
    call trace logs must be honored by transmitting the data to a secure
    printer located at the requesting law enforcement agency.

-   Call trace logs must be kept for a reasonable period of time and
    then destroyed.

12. We conclude that the foregoing waiver limitations and security
    procedures for CPN will serve the policies underlying section
    64.1601(b), while allowing universities and hospitals that have
    responsibility for the safety of their residents to better meet
    those obligations. We believe that the likelihood that CPN
    information will be unlawfully disclosed is minimized, and hence
    that Metrocare's concerns, as well as callers' legitimate
    expectations of privacy, are adequately addressed.

# ordering clauses

13. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, that pursuant to section 1.3 of the
    Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.3, and the authority delegated in
    sections 0.91 and 0.291 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.91
    and 0.291, that INSIGHT 100, Inc.'s petition for waiver of section
    64.1601(b) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 64.1601(b), IS
    GRANTED to the extent described in this Order.

14. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order is effective thirty (30) days
    from the date of its release.

    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Diane Griffin Harmon

Acting Chief, Network Services Division

Common Carrier Bureau

[^1]: 47 C.F.R. §64.1601(b).

[^2]: INSIGHT requests that the waiver be limited to entities that 1)
    are a hospital or university; 2) provide residential services; 3)
    have primary responsibility for security on its property; 4) provide
    telecommunications services using CO-class equipment capable of
    receiving and interpreting the Privacy Indicator; and 5) comply with
    the Commission's rules pertaining to suppression of the CPN. In
    addition, INSIGHT proposes specific procedures to ensure privacy,
    including restricting access to call trace logs to designated staff
    and using physical restrictions, transmitting the logs to law
    enforcement agencies directly to a printer located on the
    recipient's premises, and destroying the call trace logs after a
    reasonable period of time.

[^3]: 47 C.F.R. § 64.1601(b).

[^4]: Rules and Policies Regarding Calling Number Identification
    Service---Caller ID, CC Docket No. 91-281, *Report and Order and
    FNPRM*, 9 FCC Rcd 1764, 1769, para. 34 (1994) (*1994 Caller ID
    Order*).

[^5]: *Id*., *1994 Caller ID Order* at 1769, para. 34.

[^6]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.3; *WAIT Radio v. FCC*, 418 F.2d 1153 (D.C. Cir.
    1969), *appeal after remand*, 459 F.2d 1203 (D.C. Cir. 1972), *cert.
    denied*, 409 U.S. 1027 (1972) ("*WAIT Radio*"); *Northeast Cellular
    Tel. Co. v. FCC*, 897 F.2d 1164 (D.C. Cir. 1990) ("*Northeast
    Cellular*").

[^7]: *Northeast Cellular*, 897 F.2d at 1166. *See also* Comsat
    Corporation, Petition for Partial Relief from the Current Regulatory
    Treatment of Comsat World Systems' Switched Voice, Private Line, and
    Audio Services, *Order*, 11 FCC Rcd 9622, 9625-9626, para 10 (1996);
    Petition of General Communications, Inc., for a Partial Waiver of
    the Bush Earth Station Policy, *Memorandum Opinion and Order*, 11
    FCC Rcd 2535, 2536, para. 4 (Int'l Bur. 1996).

[^8]: *WAIT Radio*, 418 F.2d at 1159.

[^9]: *Northeast Cellular*, 897 F.2d at 1166.

[^10]: *WAIT Radio*, 418 F.2d at 1157; Dominion Video Satellite, Inc.,
    *Order and Authorization*, 14 FCC Rcd 8182, 8184, para. 5 (Int'l
    Bur. 1999).

[^11]: *1994 Caller ID Order* at 1770, para. 37.

[^12]: *See* INSIGHT 100 petition at 3-4.