II 

Calendar No. 810 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1963 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to protect the privacy rights 

of subscribers to wireless communications services. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 25, 2003 

Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. 

NELSON of Florida, Mr. ENZI, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. DAYTON, and Mr. 

LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

NOVEMBER 19, 2004 

Reported by Mr. MCCAIN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to protect the 

privacy rights of subscribers to wireless communications 

services. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wireless 411 Privacy 

5 Act’’. 
2 

•S 1963 RS 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) there are roughly 150 million wireless sub4 scribers in the United States, up from approximately 

5 15 million subscribers just a decade ago; 

6 (2) wireless phone service has proven valuable 

7 to millions of Americans because of its mobility, and 

8 the fact that government policies have expanded op9 portunities for new carriers to enter the market, of10 fering more choices and ever lower prices for con11 sumers; 

12 (3) in addition to the benefits of competition 

13 and mobility, subscribers also benefit from the fact 

14 that wireless phone numbers have not been publicly 

15 available; 

16 (4) up until now, the privacy of wireless sub17 scribers has been safeguarded and thus vastly dimin18 ished the likelihood of subscribers receiving un19 wanted or annoying phone call interruptions on their 

20 wireless phones; 

21 (5) moreover, because their wireless contact in22 formation, such as their phone number, have never 

23 been publicly available in any published directory or 

24 from any directory assistance service, subscribers 

25 have come to expect that if their phone rings it’s 
3 

•S 1963 RS 

1 likely to be a call from someone to whom they have 

2 personally given their number; 

3 (6) the wireless industry is poised to begin im4 plementing a directory assistance service so that 

5 callers can reach wireless subscribers, including sub6 scribers who have not given such callers their wire7 less phone number; 

8 (7) while some wireless subscribers may find 

9 such directory assistance service useful, current sub10 scribers deserve the right to choose whether they 

11 want to participate in such a directory; 

12 (8) because wireless users are typically charged 

13 for incoming calls, consumers must be afforded the 

14 ability to maintain the maximum amount of control 

15 over how many calls they may expect to receive and, 

16 in particular, control over the disclosure of their 

17 wireless phone number; 

18 (9) current wireless subscribers who elect to 

19 participate, or new wireless subscribers who decline 

20 to be listed, in any new wireless directory assistance 

21 service directory, including those subscribers who 

22 also elect not to receive forwarded calls from any 

23 wireless directory assistance service, should not be 

24 charged for exercising such rights; 
4 

•S 1963 RS 

1 (10) the marketplace has not yet adequately ex2 plained an effective plan to protect consumer privacy 

3 rights; 

4 (11) Congress previously acted to protect the 

5 wireless location information of subscribers by enact6 ing prohibitions on the disclosure of such sensitive 

7 information without the express prior authorization 

8 of the subscriber; and 

9 (12) the public interest would be served by 

10 similarly enacting effective and industry-wide privacy 

11 protections for consumers with respect to wireless 

12 directory assistance service. 

13 SEC. 3. CONSUMER CONTROL OF WIRELESS PHONE NUM14 BERS. 

15 Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 

16 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(9) WIRELESS CONSUMER PRIVACY PROTEC19 TION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS.—A provider 

21 of commercial mobile services, or any direct or 

22 indirect affiliate or agent of such a provider, 

23 may not include the wireless telephone number 

24 information of any current subscriber in any 
5 

•S 1963 RS 

1 wireless directory assistance service database 

2 unless— 

3 ‘‘(i) the mobile service provider pro4 vides a conspicuous, separate notice to the 

5 subscriber informing the subscriber of the 

6 right not to be listed in any wireless direc7 tory assistance service; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the mobile service provider ob9 tains express prior authorization for listing 

10 from such subscriber, separate from any 

11 authorization obtained to provide such sub12 scriber with commercial mobile service, or 

13 any calling plan or service associated with 

14 such commercial mobile service, and such 

15 authorization has not been subsequently 

16 withdrawn. 

17 ‘‘(B) NEW SUBSCRIBERS.—A provider of 

18 commercial mobile services, or any direct or in19 direct affiliate or agent of such a provider, may 

20 include the wireless telephone number informa21 tion of any new subscriber in a wireless direc22 tory assistance service database only if the com23 mercial mobile service provider— 

24 ‘‘(i) provides a conspicuous, separate 

25 notice to the subscriber, at the time of en-
6 

•S 1963 RS 

1 tering into an agreement to provide com2 mercial mobile service, and at least once 

3 each year thereafter, informing the sub4 scriber of the right not to be listed in any 

5 wireless directory assistance service data6 base; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) provides the subscriber with con8 venient mechanisms by which the sub9 scriber may decline or refuse to participate 

10 in such database, including mechanisms at 

11 the time of entering into an agreement to 

12 provide commercial mobile service, in the 

13 billing of such service, and when receiving 

14 any connected call from a wireless direc15 tory assistance service. 

16 ‘‘(C) CALL FORWARDING.—A provider of 

17 commercial mobile services, or any direct or in18 direct affiliate or agent of such provider, may 

19 connect a calling party from a wireless directory 

20 assistance service to a commercial mobile serv21 ice subscriber only if— 

22 ‘‘(i) such subscriber is provided prior 

23 notice of the calling party’s identity and is 

24 permitted to accept or reject the incoming 

25 call on a per-call basis; 
7 

•S 1963 RS 

1 ‘‘(ii) such subscriber’s wireless tele2 phone number information is not disclosed 

3 to the calling party; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) such subscriber is not an un5 listed commercial mobile service subscriber. 

6 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF DIRECTORIES PRO7 HIBITED.—A provider of commercial mobile 

8 services, or any direct or indirect affiliate or 

9 agent of such a provider, may not publish, in 

10 printed, electronic, or other form, the contents 

11 of any wireless directory assistance service 

12 database, or any portion or segment thereof. 

13 ‘‘(E) NO CONSUMER FEE FOR RETAINING

14 PRIVACY.—A provider of commercial mobile 

15 services may not charge any subscriber for exer16 cising any of the rights under this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(F) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

18 paragraph— 

19 ‘‘(i) the term ‘current subscriber’ 

20 means any subscriber to commercial mobile 

21 service as of the date when a wireless di22 rectory assistance service is implemented 

23 by a provider of commercial mobile service; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘new subscriber’ means 

25 any subscriber to commercial mobile serv-
8 

•S 1963 RS 

1 ice who becomes a subscriber after the 

2 date when a wireless directory assistance 

3 service is implemented by a provider of 

4 commercial mobile service, and includes 

5 any subscriber of a different provider of 

6 commercial mobile service who subse7 quently switches to a new provider of com8 mercial mobile service; 

9 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘wireless telephone 

10 number information’ means the telephone 

11 number, electronic address, and any other 

12 identifying information by which a calling 

13 party may reach a subscriber to commer14 cial mobile services, and which is assigned 

15 by a commercial mobile service provider to 

16 such subscriber, and includes such sub17 scriber’s name and address; 

18 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘wireless directory as19 sistance service’ means any service for con20 necting calling parties to a subscriber of 

21 commercial mobile service when such call22 ing parties themselves do not possess such 

23 subscriber’s wireless telephone number in24 formation; and 
9 

•S 1963 RS 

1 ‘‘(v) the term ‘calling party’s identity’ 

2 means the telephone number of the calling 

3 party or the name of subscriber to such 

4 telephone, or an oral or text message which 

5 provides sufficient information to enable a 

6 commercial mobile services subscriber to 

7 determine who is calling; 

8 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘unlisted commercial 

9 mobile services subscriber’ means— 

10 ‘‘(I) a current subscriber to com11 mercial mobile services who has not 

12 provided express prior consent to a 

13 commercial mobile service provider to 

14 be included in a wireless directory as15 sistance service database; and 

16 ‘‘(II) a new subscriber to com17 mercial mobile service who has exer18 cised the right contained in subpara19 graph (B)(ii) to decline or refuse to 

20 such inclusion.’’. 

21 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

22 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wireless 411 Privacy 

23 Act’’. 

24 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

25 Congress finds that— 
10 

•S 1963 RS 

1 (1) there are roughly 150 million wireless sub2 scribers in the United States, up from approximately 

3 15 million subscribers just a decade ago; 

4 (2) wireless phone service has proven valuable to 

5 millions of Americans because of its mobility, and the 

6 fact that government policies have expanded opportu7 nities for new carriers to enter the market, offering 

8 more choices and ever lower prices for consumers; 

9 (3) in addition to the benefits of competition and 

10 mobility, subscribers also benefit from the fact that 

11 wireless phone numbers have not been publicly avail12 able; 

13 (4) up until now, the privacy of wireless sub14 scribers has been safeguarded and thus vastly dimin15 ished the likelihood of subscribers receiving unwanted 

16 or annoying phone call interruptions on their wireless 

17 phones; 

18 (5) moreover, because their wireless contact in19 formation, such as their phone number, have never 

20 been publicly available in any published directory or 

21 from any directory assistance service, subscribers have 

22 come to expect that if their phone rings it’s likely to 

23 be a call from someone to whom they have personally 

24 given their number; 
11 

•S 1963 RS 

1 (6) the wireless industry is poised to begin im2 plementing a directory assistance service so that call3 ers can reach wireless subscribers, including sub4 scribers who have not given such callers their wireless 

5 phone number; 

6 (7) while some wireless subscribers may find 

7 such directory assistance service useful, current sub8 scribers deserve the right to choose whether they want 

9 to participate in such a directory; 

10 (8) because wireless users are typically charged 

11 for incoming calls, consumers must be afforded the 

12 ability to maintain the maximum amount of control 

13 over how many calls they may expect to receive and, 

14 in particular, control over the disclosure of their wire15 less phone number; 

16 (9) current wireless subscribers who elect to par17 ticipate, or new wireless subscribers who decline to be 

18 listed, in any new wireless directory assistance service 

19 directory, including those subscribers who also elect 

20 not to receive forwarded calls from any wireless direc21 tory assistance service, should not be charged for exer22 cising such rights; 

23 (10) the marketplace has not yet adequately ex24 plained an effective plan to protect consumer privacy 

25 rights; 
12 

•S 1963 RS 

1 (11) Congress previously acted to protect the 

2 wireless location information of subscribers by enact3 ing prohibitions on the disclosure of such sensitive in4 formation without the express prior authorization of 

5 the subscriber; and 

6 (12) the public interest would be served by simi7 larly enacting effective and industry-wide privacy 

8 protections for consumers with respect to wireless di9 rectory assistance service. 

10 SEC. 3. CONSUMER CONTROL OF WIRELESS PHONE NUM11 BERS. 

12 Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

13 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(9) WIRELESS CONSUMER PRIVACY PROTEC16 TION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A provider of commer18 cial mobile services, or any direct or indirect af19 filiate or agent of such a provider, may not in20 clude the wireless telephone number information 

21 of any subscriber in any wireless directory as22 sistance service database unless— 

23 ‘‘(i) the mobile service provider pro24 vides a conspicuous, separate notice to the 

25 subscriber informing the subscriber of the 
13 

•S 1963 RS 

1 right not to be listed in any wireless direc2 tory assistance service; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the mobile service provider ob4 tains express prior authorization for listing 

5 from such subscriber, separate from any au6 thorization obtained to provide such sub7 scriber with commercial mobile service, or 

8 any calling plan or service associated with 

9 such commercial mobile service, and such 

10 authorization has not been subsequently 

11 withdrawn. 

12 ‘‘(B) COST-FREE DE-LISTING.—A provider 

13 of commercial mobile services, or any direct or 

14 indirect affiliate or agent of such a provider, 

15 shall remove the wireless telephone number infor16 mation of any subscriber from any wireless di17 rectory assistance service database upon request 

18 by that subscriber and without any cost to the 

19 subscriber. 

20 ‘‘(C) PROTECTION OF WIRELESS PHONE

21 NUMBERS.—A telecommunications carrier shall 

22 not disclose in its billing information provided 

23 to customers wireless telephone number informa24 tion of subscribers who have indicated a pref25 erence to their commercial mobile services pro-
14 

•S 1963 RS 

1 vider for not having their wireless telephone 

2 number information disclosed. Notwithstanding 

3 the preceding sentence, a telecommunications 

4 carrier may disclose a portion of the wireless 

5 telephone number in its billing information if 

6 the actual number cannot be readily ascertained. 

7 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF DIRECTORIES PRO8 HIBITED.—A provider of commercial mobile 

9 services, or any direct or indirect affiliate or 

10 agent of such a provider, may not publish, in 

11 printed, electronic, or other form, or sell or other12 wise disseminate, the contents of any wireless di13 rectory assistance service database, or any por14 tion or segment thereof unless— 

15 ‘‘(i) the mobile service provider pro16 vides a conspicuous, separate notice to the 

17 subscriber informing the subscriber of the 

18 right not to be listed; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the mobile service provider ob20 tains express prior authorization for listing 

21 from such subscriber, separate from any au22 thorization obtained to provide such sub23 scriber with commercial mobile service, or 

24 any calling plan or service associated with 

25 such commercial mobile service, and such 
15 

•S 1963 RS 

1 authorization has not been subsequently 

2 withdrawn. 

3 ‘‘(E) NO CONSUMER FEE FOR RETAINING

4 PRIVACY.—A provider of commercial mobile serv5 ices may not charge any subscriber for exercising 

6 any of the rights under this paragraph. 

7 ‘‘(F) STATE AND LOCAL LAWS PRE8 EMPTED.—To the extent that any State or local 

9 government imposes requirements on providers of 

10 commercial mobile services, or any direct or in11 direct affiliate or agent of such providers, that 

12 are inconsistent with the requirements of this 

13 paragraph, this paragraph preempts such State 

14 or local requirements. 

15 ‘‘(G) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(i) CALLING PARTY’S IDENTITY.—The 

17 term ‘calling party’s identity’ means the 

18 telephone number of the calling party or the 

19 name of subscriber to such telephone, or an 

20 oral or text message which provides suffi21 cient information to enable a commercial 

22 mobile services subscriber to determine who 

23 is calling. 

24 ‘‘(ii) UNLISTED COMMERCIAL MOBILE

25 SERVICES SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘unlisted 
16 

•S 1963 RS 

1 commercial mobile services subscriber’ 

2 means a subscriber to commercial mobile 

3 services who has not provided express prior 

4 consent to a commercial mobile service pro5 vider to be included in a wireless directory 

6 assistance service database. 

7 ‘‘(iii) WIRELESS TELEPHONE NUMBER

8 INFORMATION.—The term ‘wireless telephone 

9 number information’ means the telephone 

10 number, electronic address, and any other 

11 identifying information by which a calling 

12 party may reach a subscriber to commercial 

13 mobile services, and which is assigned by a 

14 commercial mobile service provider to such 

15 subscriber, and includes such subscriber’s 

16 name and address. 

17 ‘‘(iv) WIRELESS DIRECTORY ASSIST18 ANCE SERVICE.—The term ‘wireless direc19 tory assistance service’ means any service 

20 for connecting calling parties to a sub21 scriber of commercial mobile service when 

22 such calling parties themselves do not pos23 sess such subscriber’s wireless telephone 

24 number information.’’. 

Calendar No. 810 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1963 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to protect the privacy rights of subscribers to wireless 

communications services. 

NOVEMBER 19, 2004 

Reported with an amendment