II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1973

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. DEWINE 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 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) There are roughly 150 million wireless sub9 scribers in the United States, up from approximately 

10 15 million subscribers just a decade ago. 
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1 (2) Wireless phone service has proven valuable 

2 to millions of Americans because of its mobility, and 

3 the fact that government policies have expanded op4 portunities for new carriers to enter the market, of5 fering more choices and ever lower prices for con6 sumers. 

7 (3) In addition to the benefits of competition 

8 and mobility, subscribers also benefit from the fact 

9 that wireless phone numbers have not been publicly 

10 available. 

11 (4) Up until now, the privacy of wireless sub12 scribers has been safeguarded and thus vastly dimin13 ished the likelihood of subscribers receiving un14 wanted or annoying phone call interruptions on their 

15 wireless phones. 

16 (5) Moreover, because their wireless contact in17 formation, such as their phone number, have never 

18 been publicly available in any published directory or 

19 from any directory assistance service, subscribers 

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

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

22 personally given their number. 

23 (6) The wireless industry is poised to begin im24 plementing a directory assistance service so that 

25 callers can reach wireless subscribers, including sub-
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1 scribers who have not given such callers their wire2 less phone number. 

3 (7) While some wireless subscribers may find 

4 such directory assistance service useful, current sub5 scribers deserve the right to choose whether they 

6 want to participate in such a directory. 

7 (8) Because wireless users are typically charged 

8 for incoming calls, consumers must be afforded the 

9 ability to maintain the maximum amount of control 

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

11 in particular, control over the disclosure of their 

12 wireless phone number. 

13 (9) Current wireless subscribers who elect to 

14 participate, or new wireless subscribers who decline 

15 to be listed, in any new wireless directory assistance 

16 service directory, including those subscribers who 

17 also elect not to receive forwarded calls from any 

18 wireless directory assistance service, should not be 

19 charged for exercising such rights. 

20 (10) The marketplace has not yet adequately 

21 explained an effective plan to protect consumer pri22 vacy rights. 

23 (11) Congress previously acted to protect the 

24 wireless location information of subscribers by enact25 ing prohibitions on the disclosure of such sensitive 
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1 information without the express prior authorization 

2 of the subscriber. 

3 (12) The public interest would be served by 

4 similarly enacting effective and industry-wide privacy 

5 protections for consumers with respect to wireless 

6 directory assistance service. 

7 SEC. 3. CONSUMER CONTROL OF WIRELESS PHONE NUM8 BERS. 

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

10 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 

11 following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(9) WIRELESS CONSUMER PRIVACY PROTEC13 TION.—

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

15 of commercial mobile services, or any direct or 

16 indirect affiliate or agent of such a provider, 

17 may not include the wireless telephone number 

18 information of any current subscriber in any 

19 wireless directory assistance service database 

20 unless—

21 ‘‘(i) the mobile service provider pro22 vides a conspicuous, separate notice to the 

23 subscriber informing the subscriber of the 

24 right not to be listed in any wireless direc25 tory assistance service; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) the mobile service provider ob2 tains express prior authorization for listing 

3 from such subscriber, separate from any 

4 authorization obtained to provide such sub5 scriber with commercial mobile service, or 

6 any calling plan or service associated with 

7 such commercial mobile service, and such 

8 authorization has not been subsequently 

9 withdrawn. 

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

11 commercial mobile services, or any direct or in12 direct affiliate or agent of such a provider, may 

13 include the wireless telephone number informa14 tion of any new subscriber in a wireless direc15 tory assistance service database only if the com16 mercial mobile service provider—

17 ‘‘(i) provides a conspicuous, separate 

18 notice to the subscriber, at the time of en19 tering into an agreement to provide com20 mercial mobile service, and at least once a 

21 year thereafter, informing the subscriber of 

22 the right not to be listed in any wireless di23 rectory assistance service database; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) provides the subscriber with con25 venient mechanisms by which the sub-
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1 scriber may decline or refuse to participate 

2 in such database, including mechanisms at 

3 the time of entering into an agreement to 

4 provide commercial mobile service, in the 

5 billing of such service, and when receiving 

6 any connected call from a wireless direc7 tory assistance service. 

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

9 commercial mobile services, or any direct or in10 direct affiliate or agent of such provider, may 

11 connect a calling party from a wireless directory 

12 assistance service to a commercial mobile serv13 ice subscriber only if—

14 ‘‘(i) such subscriber is provided prior 

15 notice of the calling party’s identity and is 

16 permitted to accept or reject the incoming 

17 call on a per-call basis; 

18 ‘‘(ii) such subscriber’s wireless tele19 phone number information is not disclosed 

20 to the calling party; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) such subscriber is not an un22 listed commercial mobile service subscriber. 

23 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF DIRECTORIES PRO24 HIBITED.—A provider of commercial mobile 

25 services, or any direct or indirect affiliate or 
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1 agent of such a provider, may not publish, in 

2 printed, electronic, or other form, the contents 

3 of any wireless directory assistance service 

4 database, or any portion or segment thereof. 

5 ‘‘(E) NO CONSUMER FEE FOR RETAINING

6 PRIVACY.—A provider of commercial mobile 

7 services may not charge any subscriber for exer8 cising any of the rights under this paragraph. 

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

10 paragraph—

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

12 means any subscriber to commercial mobile 

13 service as of the date when a wireless di14 rectory assistance service is implemented 

15 by a provider of commercial mobile service; 

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

17 any subscriber to commercial mobile serv18 ice who becomes a subscriber after the 

19 date when a wireless directory assistance 

20 service is implemented by a provider of 

21 commercial mobile service, and includes 

22 any subscriber of a different provider of 

23 commercial mobile service who subse24 quently switches to a new provider of com25 mercial mobile service; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘wireless telephone 

2 number information’ means the telephone 

3 number, electronic address, and any other 

4 identifying information by which a calling 

5 party may reach a subscriber to commer6 cial mobile services, and which is assigned 

7 by a commercial mobile service provider to 

8 such subscriber, and includes such sub9 scriber’s name and address; 

10 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘wireless directory as11 sistance service’ means any service for con12 necting calling parties to a subscriber of 

13 commercial mobile service when such call14 ing parties themselves do not possess such 

15 subscriber’s wireless telephone number in16 formation; 

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

18 means the telephone number of the calling 

19 party or the name of subscriber to such 

20 telephone, or an oral or text message which 

21 provides sufficient information to enable a 

22 commercial mobile services subscriber to 

23 determine who is calling; and 

24 ‘‘(vi) the term ‘unlisted commercial 

25 mobile services subscriber’ means—
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1 ‘‘(I) a current subscriber to com2 mercial mobile services who has not 

3 provided express prior consent to a 

4 commercial mobile service provider to 

5 be included in a wireless directory as6 sistance service database; and 

7 ‘‘(II) a new subscriber to com8 mercial mobile service who has exer9 cised the right contained in subpara10 graph (B)(ii) to decline or refuse such 

11 inclusion.’’.

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