SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
Second Regular Session 
) 
'1-1 
DEC 15 P2 :43 
SENATE 
_________ 
S_. N_O_. __ 
2_5_1_1 ________ 'to 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
TO PROTECT CONSUMERS' PHONE RECORDS 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Atticle 3, Section 3 provides that: 
SEC. 3. (1) The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable 
except upon lawful order of the court, or when public safety or order requires 
otherwise, as prescribed by law. 
(2) Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be 
inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding. 
Customer telephone records may be accessed without authorization of the 
customer by: 1) an employee of the telephone company selling the data; 2) 
"pretexting"', whereby a data broker or other person pretends to be the owner of the 
phone and convinces the telephone company's employees to release the data to 
them; or 3) unauthorized access of accounts via the internet. In addition, phone 
records may be illegally tapped to obtain information which can be used against 
the consumer. 
1 


This bill seeks to implement the constitutional right to privacy of communications 
and correspondence by providing for measures which will make it more difficult to 
access the phone records of a consumer.l 
I This bill was originally filed on the 13 th Congress, Third Regular Session. 
2 


SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
Second Regular Session 
) 
'14 
DEC 15 P 2 :43 
SENATE 
S. No. 
2511 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled: 
1 
AN ACT 
2 
TO PROTECT CONSUMERS' PHONE RECORDS 
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SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Protecting 
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Consumer Phone Records Act." 
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SECTION 2, Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the 
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State to ensure the privacy of communication and correspondence, and to prohibit 
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the unlawful and illegal use of information gathered in violation of this right, and 
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to prohibit the obtaining of customer information from telecommunications carriers 
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by false pretenses, and the sale or disclosure of such records obtained by false 
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pretenses. 
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SECTION 3 .. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act, the term: 
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A. "IP-Enabled Voice Service" shall mean the provision of real-time 2-way 
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voice communications offered to the public, or such classes of users as to 
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be effectively available to the public, transmitted through customer 
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premises equipment using TCP/IP protocol, or a successor protocol, for a 
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fee (whether part of a bundle of serVlces or separately) with 
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interconnection capability such that the service can originate traffic to, or 
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terminate traffic from, the public switched telephone network; 
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B. "Telecommunications Carrier" is the means used to transport, engage and 
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transmit any form of communication to another person or entity; 
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C. "Confidential Phone Records Information" means information that-
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l. relates to the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination 
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location, or amount of use of a service offered by a covered entity, 
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subscribed to by any customer of that covered entity, and kept by 
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or on behalf of that covered entity solely by virtue of the 
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relationship between that covered entity and customer; 
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2. is made available to a covered entity by a customer solely by virtue 
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of the relationship between that covered entity and the customer; or 
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3. ) is contained in any bill, itemization, or account statement 
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provided to a customer by or in behalf of a covered entity solely by 
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virtue of the relationship between that covered entity and the 
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customer. 
18 
D. "Covered entity" includes any provider ofIP-enabled voice service. 
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E. "Customer" means a covered entity, any individual, partnership, 
20 
association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation, or authorized 
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representative of such customer, to whom the covered entity provides a 
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product or service; 
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2 
3 
4 
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F. "Wireless Telephone Number Information" means the telephone number, 
electronic address, and any other identifying information by which a 
calling party may reach a commercial mobile services customer, and 
which is assigned by a commercial mobile service provider to such 
customer, and includes the name and address of such customer; 
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G. "Wireless Directory Assistance Service" means any service for 
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connecting calling parties to a commercial mobile service customer when 
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such calling parties themselves do not possess the wireless telephone 
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number information of such customer. 
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SECTION 4. Unauthorized Acquisition, Use, or Sale of Confidential 
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Customer Proprietmy Network Telephone Information. ~ It is unlawful for any 
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person-
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A. to acqUire or use the customer proprietary network information and 
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phone records information of another person without that person's 
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affirmative written consent by-
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1. making false or fraudulent statements or representations to an 
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employee of a covered entity; 
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2. making such false or fraudulent statements or representations to a 
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customer of a covered entity; 
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3. providing a document to a covered entity knowing that such 
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document is false or fraudulent; or 
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4. accessing customer accounts of a covered entity via the internet, 
2 
without prior authorization from the customer to whom such 
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confidential phone records information relates. 
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B. to misrepresent that another person has consented to the acquisition or 
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use of such other person's customer proprietary network information and 
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phone records information in order to acquire such information; 
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C. to obtain unauthorized access to the data processing system or records of 
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a telecommunications carrier or an IP-enabled voice service provider in 
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order to acquire the customer proprietary network information and phone 
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records information of one or more other persons; 
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D. to sell, or offer for sale, customer proprietary network information and 
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phone records information; or 
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E. to request that another person obtain customer proprietary network 
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information and phone records information from a telecommunications 
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carrier or IP-enabled voice service provider, knowing that the other 
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person will obtain the information from such carrier or provider in any 
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manner that is unlawful under this subsection. 
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Provided, this Act does not prohibit any act or practice otherwise authorized 
19 
by law, including any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence 
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activity of a law enforcement agency or the Republic of the Philippines, or an 
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intelligence agency of the Republic of the Philippines. 
4 


1 
Provided further, that nothing in this Act prohibits the use of caller 
2 
identification services by any person to identify the originator of telephone calls 
3 
received by that person. 
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SECTION 5. Wireless Consumer Privacy Protection. -
A provider of 
5 
commercial mobile services, or any direct or indirect affiliate or agent of such a 
6 
provider, may not provide the wireless telephone number information of any 
7 
customer to any wireless directory assistance service unless the mobile servIce 
8 
provider-
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A. provides a conspICUOUS, separate notice to the customer informing the 
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customer of the right not to be listed in any wireless directory assistance 
II 
service; and 
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B. provides a conspicuous, separate notice to the customer informing the 
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customer of the right not to be listed in any wireless directory assistance 
14 
service; and 
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SECTION 6. Publication of Directories Prohibited. -
A provider of 
16 
commercial mobile services, or any direct or indirect affiliate or agent of such a 
17 
provider, may not publish, in printed, electronic, or other form, or sell or otherwise 
18 
disseminate, an individual's wireless telephone information held by any wireless 
19 
directory assistance service, or any portion or segment thereof, unless the mobile 
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service provider-
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A. provides a conspICUOUS, separate notice to the customer informing the 
22 
customer ofthe right not to be listed; and 
5 


B. obtains express pnor authorization for listing from such customer, 
2 
separate from any authorization obtained to provide such customer with 
3 
commercial mobile service, or any calling plan or service associated with 
4 
such commercial mobile service, and such authorization has not been 
5 
subsequently withdrawn. 
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SECTION 7. No Consumer Fee for Retaining Privacy. - A provider of 
7 
commercial mobile services may not charge any customer for exercising any of the 
8 
rights described under this subsection. 
9 
SECTION 8. Private Right of Action for Providers. - A telecommunications 
10 
carrier or IP-enabled voice service provider may bring a civil action in an 
11 
appropriate court that meets applicable requirements relating to venue under the 
12 
Rules of Court, and any court in which the carrier or service provider resides or 
13 
conducts business -
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A. based on a violation of this section or the regulations prescribed under 
15 
this section to enjoin such violation; 
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B. to recover for actual monetary loss from such a violation, or to receive 
17 
PhP 20,000 in damages for each such violation, whichever is greater; or 
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C. both. 
19 
If the court finds that the defendant willfully or knowingly violated this 
20 
section or the regulations prescribed under this section, the court may, in its 
21 
discretion, increase the amount of the award to an amount equal to not more than 
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three times the amount available under this Section. 
6 


1 
SECTION 9. Private Right of Action for Consumers. - An individual who 
2 
has been injured as a direct result of his or her confidential proprietary network 
3 
information being obtained, used, or sold in violation of this section may file a 
4 
civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction against the person who caused 
5 
the injury by violating this section. 
6 
A court in which such civil action has been brought may award damages of 
7 
not more than PhP 20,000 for each violation of this section with respect to the 
8 
plaintiffs customer proprietary network information. 
9 
If the court finds that the defendant willfully or knowingly violated this 
10 
section or the regulations prescribed under this section, the court may, in its 
11 
discretion, increase the amount of the award to not more than 3 times the damages 
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determined by the court under the previous paragraph. 
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SECTION 10. Civil Penalty. - Any person who violates Section 9 of this 
14 
Act shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than PhP 20,000 for each 
15 
violation or each day of a continuing violation, except that the amount assessed for 
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any continuing violation shall not exceed a total of PhP 20,000,000 for any single 
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act or failure to act. 
18 
A violation of this Act with respect to the customer proprietary network 
19, information of one person shall be treated as a separate violation from a violation 
20 
with respect to the customer proprietary network information of any other person. 
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SECTION 11. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
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executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation 
7 


· . 
contrary to or is inconsistent with the provision of this Act is hereby repealed, 
2 
modified, or amended accordingly. 
3 
SECTION 12. Separability Clause. - If any part or provision of this Act 
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shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid, other provisions hereof which are not 
5 
affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect. 
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SECTION 13. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) 
7 
days after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
8 
Approved, 
/apm12052014 
8