II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST 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 and Mrs. BOXER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—
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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 

5 to millions of Americans because of its mobility, and 

6 the fact that government policies have expanded op7 portunities for new carriers to enter the market, of8 fering more choices and ever lower prices for con9 sumers; 

10 (3) in addition to the benefits of competition 

11 and mobility, subscribers also benefit from the fact 

12 that wireless phone numbers have not been publicly 

13 available; 

14 (4) up until now, the privacy of wireless sub15 scribers has been safeguarded and thus vastly dimin16 ished the likelihood of subscribers receiving un17 wanted or annoying phone call interruptions on their 

18 wireless phones; 

19 (5) moreover, because their wireless contact in20 formation, such as their phone number, have never 

21 been publicly available in any published directory or 

22 from any directory assistance service, subscribers 

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

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

25 personally given their number; 
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1 (6) the wireless industry is poised to begin im2 plementing a directory assistance service so that 

3 callers can reach wireless subscribers, including sub4 scribers who have not given such callers their wire5 less 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 

9 want 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 

15 wireless phone number; 

16 (9) current wireless subscribers who elect to 

17 participate, or new wireless subscribers who decline 

18 to be listed, in any new wireless directory assistance 

19 service directory, including those subscribers who 

20 also elect not to receive forwarded calls from any 

21 wireless directory assistance service, should not be 

22 charged for exercising such rights; 

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

25 rights; 
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1 (11) Congress previously acted to protect the 

2 wireless location information of subscribers by enact3 ing prohibitions on the disclosure of such sensitive 

4 information without the express prior authorization 

5 of the subscriber; and 

6 (12) the public interest would be served by 

7 similarly enacting effective and industry-wide privacy 

8 protections for consumers with respect to wireless 

9 directory assistance service. 

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

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

13 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following: 

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

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

18 of commercial mobile services, or any direct or 

19 indirect affiliate or agent of such a provider, 

20 may not include the wireless telephone number 

21 information of any current subscriber in any 

22 wireless directory assistance service database 

23 unless—

24 ‘‘(i) the mobile service provider pro25 vides a conspicuous, separate notice to the 
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1 subscriber informing the subscriber of the 

2 right not to be listed in any wireless direc3 tory assistance service; and

4 ‘‘(ii) the mobile service provider ob5 tains express prior authorization for listing 

6 from such subscriber, separate from any 

7 authorization obtained to provide such sub8 scriber with commercial mobile service, or 

9 any calling plan or service associated with 

10 such commercial mobile service, and such 

11 authorization has not been subsequently 

12 withdrawn. 

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

14 commercial mobile services, or any direct or in15 direct affiliate or agent of such a provider, may 

16 include the wireless telephone number informa17 tion of any new subscriber in a wireless direc18 tory assistance service database only if the com19 mercial mobile service provider—

20 ‘‘(i) provides a conspicuous, separate 

21 notice to the subscriber, at the time of en22 tering into an agreement to provide com23 mercial mobile service, and at least once 

24 each year thereafter, informing the sub25 scriber of the right not to be listed in any 
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1 wireless directory assistance service data2 base; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) provides the subscriber with con4 venient mechanisms by which the sub5 scriber may decline or refuse to participate 

6 in such database, including mechanisms at 

7 the time of entering into an agreement to 

8 provide commercial mobile service, in the 

9 billing of such service, and when receiving 

10 any connected call from a wireless direc11 tory assistance service. 

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

13 commercial mobile services, or any direct or in14 direct affiliate or agent of such provider, may 

15 connect a calling party from a wireless directory 

16 assistance service to a commercial mobile serv17 ice subscriber only if—

18 ‘‘(i) such subscriber is provided prior 

19 notice of the calling party’s identity and is 

20 permitted to accept or reject the incoming 

21 call on a per-call basis; 

22 ‘‘(ii) such subscriber’s wireless tele23 phone number information is not disclosed 

24 to the calling party; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) such subscriber is not an un2 listed commercial mobile service subscriber. 

3 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF DIRECTORIES PRO4 HIBITED.—A provider of commercial mobile 

5 services, or any direct or indirect affiliate or 

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

7 printed, electronic, or other form, the contents 

8 of any wireless directory assistance service 

9 database, or any portion or segment thereof. 

10 ‘‘(E) NO CONSUMER FEE FOR RETAINING

11 PRIVACY.—A provider of commercial mobile 

12 services may not charge any subscriber for exer13 cising any of the rights under this paragraph. 

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

15 paragraph—

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

17 means any subscriber to commercial mobile 

18 service as of the date when a wireless di19 rectory assistance service is implemented 

20 by a provider of commercial mobile service; 

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

22 any subscriber to commercial mobile serv23 ice who becomes a subscriber after the 

24 date when a wireless directory assistance 

25 service is implemented by a provider of 
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1 commercial mobile service, and includes 

2 any subscriber of a different provider of 

3 commercial mobile service who subse4 quently switches to a new provider of com5 mercial mobile service; 

6 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘wireless telephone 

7 number information’ means the telephone 

8 number, electronic address, and any other 

9 identifying information by which a calling 

10 party may reach a subscriber to commer11 cial mobile services, and which is assigned 

12 by a commercial mobile service provider to 

13 such subscriber, and includes such sub14 scriber’s name and address; 

15 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘wireless directory as16 sistance service’ means any service for con17 necting calling parties to a subscriber of 

18 commercial mobile service when such call19 ing parties themselves do not possess such 

20 subscriber’s wireless telephone number in21 formation; and 

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

23 means the telephone number of the calling 

24 party or the name of subscriber to such 

25 telephone, or an oral or text message which 
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1 provides sufficient information to enable a 

2 commercial mobile services subscriber to 

3 determine who is calling; 

4 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘unlisted commercial 

5 mobile services subscriber’ means—

6 ‘‘(I) a current subscriber to com7 mercial mobile services who has not 

8 provided express prior consent to a 

9 commercial mobile service provider to 

10 be included in a wireless directory as11 sistance service database; and 

12 ‘‘(II) a new subscriber to com13 mercial mobile service who has exer14 cised the right contained in subpara15 graph (B)(ii) to decline or refuse to 

16 such inclusion.’’.

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