H. R. 4709

One Hundred Ninth Congress

of the

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and six 

An Act 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthen protections for law enforcement 

officers and the public by providing criminal penalties for the fraudulent acquisition or unauthorized disclosure of phone records.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Telephone Records and Privacy 

Protection Act of 2006’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds that—

(1) telephone records can be of great use to criminals 

because the information contained in call logs may include 

a wealth of personal data; 

(2) call logs may reveal the names of telephone users’ 

doctors, public and private relationships, business associates, 

and more; 

(3) call logs are typically maintained for the exclusive use 

of phone companies, their authorized agents, and authorized 

consumers; 

(4) telephone records have been obtained without the 

knowledge or consent of consumers through the use of a number 

of fraudulent methods and devices that include—

(A) telephone company employees selling data to 

unauthorized data brokers; 

(B) ‘‘pretexting’’, whereby a data broker or other person 

represents that they are an authorized consumer and convinces an agent of the telephone company to release the 

data; or 

(C) gaining unauthorized Internet access to account 

data by improperly activating a consumer’s account 

management features on a phone company’s webpage or 

contracting with an Internet-based data broker who 

trafficks in such records; and 

(5) the unauthorized disclosure of telephone records not 

only assaults individual privacy but, in some instances, may 

further acts of domestic violence or stalking, compromise the 

personal safety of law enforcement officers, their families, victims of crime, witnesses, or confidential informants, and undermine the integrity of law enforcement investigations. 
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SEC. 3. FRAUD AND RELATED ACTIVITY IN CONNECTION WITH 

OBTAINING CONFIDENTIAL PHONE RECORDS INFORMATION OF A COVERED ENTITY. 

(a) OFFENSE.—Chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, is 

amended by inserting after section 1038 the following: 

‘‘§ 1039. Fraud and related activity in connection with 

obtaining confidential phone records information of a covered entity 

‘‘(a) CRIMINAL VIOLATION.—Whoever, in interstate or foreign 

commerce, knowingly and intentionally obtains, or attempts to 

obtain, confidential phone records information of a covered entity, 

by—

‘‘(1) making false or fraudulent statements or representations to an employee of a covered entity; 

‘‘(2) making such false or fraudulent statements or representations to a customer of a covered entity; 

‘‘(3) providing a document to a covered entity knowing 

that such document is false or fraudulent; or 

‘‘(4) accessing customer accounts of a covered entity via 

the Internet, or by means of conduct that violates section 1030 

of this title, without prior authorization from the customer 

to whom such confidential phone records information relates; 

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10 

years, or both. 

‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR TRANSFER OF CONFIDENTIAL

PHONE RECORDS INFORMATION.—

‘‘(1) Except as otherwise permitted by applicable law, whoever, in interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly and intentionally sells or transfers, or attempts to sell or transfer, confidential phone records information of a covered entity, without 

prior authorization from the customer to whom such confidential phone records information relates, or knowing or having 

reason to know such information was obtained fraudulently, 

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 

years, or both. 

‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the exceptions specified 

in section 222(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 shall 

apply for the use of confidential phone records information 

by any covered entity, as defined in subsection (h). 

‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON PURCHASE OR RECEIPT OF CONFIDENTIAL

PHONE RECORDS INFORMATION.—

‘‘(1) Except as otherwise permitted by applicable law, whoever, in interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly and intentionally purchases or receives, or attempts to purchase or 

receive, confidential phone records information of a covered 

entity, without prior authorization from the customer to whom 

such confidential phone records information relates, or knowing 

or having reason to know such information was obtained 

fraudulently, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not 

more than 10 years, or both. 

‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the exceptions specified 

in section 222(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 shall 

apply for the use of confidential phone records information 

by any covered entity, as defined in subsection (h). 

‘‘(d) ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR AGGRAVATED CASES.—Whoever 

violates, or attempts to violate, subsection (a), (b), or (c) while 
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violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern 

of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000, or more than 

50 customers of a covered entity, in a 12-month period shall, in 

addition to the penalties provided for in such subsection, be fined 

twice the amount provided in subsection (b)(3) or (c)(3) (as the 

case may be) of section 3571 of this title, imprisoned for not more 

than 5 years, or both. 

‘‘(e) ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR USE OF INFORMATION IN FURTHERANCE OF CERTAIN CRIMINAL OFFENSES.—

‘‘(1) Whoever, violates, or attempts to violate, subsection 

(a), (b), or (c) knowing that such information may be used 

in furtherance of, or with the intent to commit, an offense 

described in section 2261, 2261A, 2262, or any other crime 

of violence shall, in addition to the penalties provided for in 

such subsection, be fined under this title and imprisoned not 

more than 5 years. 

‘‘(2) Whoever, violates, or attempts to violate, subsection 

(a), (b), or (c) knowing that such information may be used 

in furtherance of, or with the intent to commit, an offense 

under section 111, 115, 1114, 1503, 1512, 1513, or to intimidate, 

threaten, harass, injure, or kill any Federal, State, or local 

law enforcement officer shall, in addition to the penalties provided for in such subsection, be fined under this title and 

imprisoned not more than 5 years. 

‘‘(f) EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION.—There is extraterritorial 

jurisdiction over an offense under this section. 

‘‘(g) NONAPPLICABILITY TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.—This 

section does not prohibit any lawfully authorized investigative, 

protective, or intelligence activity of a law enforcement agency 

of the United States, a State, or political subdivision of a State, 

or of an intelligence agency of the United States. 

‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

‘‘(1) CONFIDENTIAL PHONE RECORDS INFORMATION.—The 

term ‘confidential phone records information’ means information that—

‘‘(A) relates to the quantity, technical configuration, 

type, destination, location, or amount of use of a service 

offered by a covered entity, subscribed to by any customer 

of that covered entity, and kept by or on behalf of that 

covered entity solely by virtue of the relationship between 

that covered entity and the customer; 

‘‘(B) is made available to a covered entity by a customer 

solely by virtue of the relationship between that covered 

entity and the customer; or 

‘‘(C) is contained in any bill, itemization, or account 

statement provided to a customer by or on behalf of a 

covered entity solely by virtue of the relationship between 

that covered entity and the customer. 

‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered entity’—

‘‘(A) has the same meaning given the term ‘telecommunications carrier’ in section 3 of the Communications 

Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153); and 

‘‘(B) includes any provider of IP-enabled voice service. 

‘‘(3) CUSTOMER.—The term ‘customer’ means, with respect 

to a covered entity, any individual, partnership, association, 
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joint stock company, trust, or corporation, or authorized representative of such customer, to whom the covered entity provides a product or service. 

‘‘(4) IP-ENABLED VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘IP-enabled 

voice service’ means the provision of real-time voice communications offered to the public, or such class of users as to be 

effectively available to the public, transmitted through customer 

premises equipment using TCP/IP protocol, or a successor protocol, (whether part of a bundle of services or separately) with 

interconnection capability such that the service can originate 

traffic to, or terminate traffic from, the public switched telephone network, or a successor network.’’. 

(b) CHAPTER ANALYSIS.—The table of sections for chapter 47 

of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding after the 

item relating to section 1038 the following:

‘‘1039. Fraud and related activity in connection with obtaining confidential phone 

records information of a covered entity.’’.

SEC. 4. SENTENCING GUIDELINES. 

(a) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

the date of enactment of this Act, the United States Sentencing 

Commission, pursuant to its authority under section 994 of title 

28, United States Code, and in accordance with this section, shall 

review and, if appropriate, amend the Federal sentencing guidelines 

and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of any offense 

under section 1039 of title 18, United States Code. 

(b) AUTHORIZATION.—The United States Sentencing Commission may amend the Federal sentencing guidelines in accordance 

with the procedures set forth in section 21(a) of the Sentencing 

Act of 1987 (28 U.S.C. 994 note) as though the authority under 

that section had not expired.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.