FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
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SENATE 
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S. NO. 
Introduced by Senator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
A person’s right to privacy as stated under Article 111, Section 3 of the Philippine 
Constitution is not only limited to a person’s right against unlawful intrusion into 
one’s home or personal effects but also extends to a person’s communication or 
correspondence whether it be spoken, written, or electronic. 
This right to privacy of communication and correspondence is further 
strengthened with the enactment of Republic Act No. 4200 entitled, “An Act to 
Prohibit and Penalize Wire Tapping and other related Violations of the Privacy of 
Communication, and for other Purposes” which prohibited and penalized 
wiretapping. 
This proposed bill, in support with the measures mentioned above, further 
reinforces a person’s right to privacy of communications and correspondence by 
providing additional means that would make it more difficult to access phone 
records of consumers which may be accessed without their authorization. 
In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this measure is earnestly sought. 
A N ~ O ~ O  
~ ( S O N ~ ~ Y S ~  
F.’TRILLANES IV 
Senator 
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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
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Introduced by Senator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV 
AN ACT 
TO PROTECT CONSUMERS’ PHONE RECORDS 
Be if enacted by the Senate and fhe House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled. 
Section 1. Short Tifle. - This Act shall be known as the “Protecting 
Consumers’ Phone Records Act of 2008 
Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared the policy of the State 
to ensure the privacy of communication and correspondence, and to prohibit the 
unlawful and illegal use of information gathered in violation of this right, and to 
prohibit the obtaining of customer information from telecommunications carriers 
by false pretenses, and the sale or disclosure of such records obtained by false 
pretenses. 
Sec. 3. Definition of Terms. -As used in this section, the term - 
(1) 
”IP Enabled Voice Service” - shall mean the provision of real-time 
2-way voice communications offered to the public, or such classes of users as to 
be effectively available to the public, transmitted through customer premises 
equipment using TCPl IP protocol, or a successor protocol, for a fee (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. 
(2) 
“Telecommunications Carrier” is the means used to transport, 
engage and transmit any form of communication to another person or entity. 
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(3) 
“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 
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 in behalf of a covered entity solely by virtue of the 
relationship between that covered entity and the customer. 
(4) “Covered Entity” - includes any provider of IP-enabled voice service. 
(5) “Customer” - means a covered entity, any individual, partnership, 
association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation, or authorized 
representative of such customer, to whom the covered entity provides a product 
or service. 
(6) “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 service customer, and which is 
assigned by a commercial mobile service provider to such customer, and 
includes the name and address of such customer. 
(7) “Wireless Directory Assistance Service” means any service for 
connecting calling parties to a commercial mobile service customer when such 
calling parties themselves do not possess the wireless telephone number 
information of such customer. 
Sec. 4. Unauthorized Acquisition, Use, or Sale of Confidential 
Customer Proprietary Network Telephone Information. 
(A) In General - It is unlawful for any person - 
(1) to acquire or use the customer proprietary network information 
and phone records information of another person without the persons’ 
affirmative written consent by - 
(1.1 .) making false or fraudulent statements or representations 
to an employee of a covered entity: 
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(1.2.) 
making such false or fraudulent statements or 
representations to a customer of a covered entity; 
(1.3.) providing a document to a covered entity knowing that 
such document is false or fraudulent; or 
(1.4.) accessing customer accounts of a covered entity via the 
internet, without prior authorization from the customer to whom 
such confidential phone records information relates. 
(2) to misrepresent that another person has consented to the 
acquisition or use of such other person’s customer proprietary network 
information and phone records information in order to acquire such 
information; 
(3) to obtain unauthorized access to the data processing system or 
records of a telecommunications carrier or an IP-enabled voice service 
provider in order to acquire the customer proprietary network information 
and phone records information of one (1) or more other persons; 
(4) to sell, or offer for sale, customer proprietary network information 
and phone records information; or 
(5) to request that another person obtain customer proprietary 
network 
information 
and 
phone 
records 
information 
from 
a 
telecommunications carrier or IP-enabled voice service provider, knowing 
that the other person will obtain the information from such carrier or 
provider in any manner that is unlawful under this subsection. 
(B) Exceptions. - 
(1) Application of Other Laws - This Act does not prohibit any act or 
practice otherwise authorized by law, including any lawfully authorized 
investigative, protective, or intelligence activity of a law enforcement 
agency or the Republic of the Philippines, or an intelligence agency of the 
Republic of the Philippines. 
(2) Caller ID - Nothing in this Act prohibits the use of caller 
identification services by any person to identify the originator of the 
telephone calls received by that person. 
See. 5. Wireless Consumer Privacy Protection. - 
(A) A provider of commercial mobile services, or any direct or indirect 
affiliate or agent of such a provider, may not provide the wireless telephone 
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number information of any customer to any wireless directory assistance service 
unless the mobile service provider - 
(1) provides a conspicuous, separate notice to the customer 
informing the customer of the right not to be listed in any wireless directory 
assistance service; and 
(2) obtains express prior authorization for listing from such customer, 
separate from any authorization obtained to provide such customer with 
commercial mobile service, or any calling plan or service associated with 
such commercial mobile service, and such authorization has not been 
subsequently withdrawn. 
(B) Publication of Directories Prohibited - A provider of commercial mobile 
services, or any direct or indirect affiliate or agent of such a provider, may not 
publish, in printed, electronic, or other form, or sell or otherwise disseminate, an 
individual’s wireless telephone information held by any wireless directory 
assistance service, or any portion or segment thereof, unless the mobile service 
provider - 
(1) provides a conspicuous, separate notice to the customer 
informing the customer of the right not to be listed; and 
(2) obtains express prior authorization for listing from such customer, 
separate from any authorization obtained to provide such customer with 
commercial mobile service, or any calling plan or service associated with 
such commercial mobile service and such authorization has been 
subsequently withdrawn. 
(C) No Consumer Fee for Retaining Privacy - A provider of commercial 
mobile services may not charge any customer for exercising any of the rights 
described under this subsection. 
Sec. 6. Right of Action. - 
(A) Private Right of Action for Providers - 
(1) A telecommunications carrier or IP-enabled voice service provider 
may bring a civil action in an appropriate court that meets applicable 
requirements relating to venue under the Rules of Court, and any court in 
which the carrier or service provider resides or conducts business - 
(1.1.) based on violation of this section or the regulations 
prescribed under this section to enjoin such violation; 
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(1.2.) to recover for actual monetary loss from such a violation, 
or to receive PhP 20,000 in damages for each violation, whichever is 
greater; or 
(1.3.) both 
(2) If the court finds that the defendant willfully or knowingly violated 
this section or the regulations prescribed under this section, the court may, 
in its discretion, increase the amount of the award to an amount equal to 
not more than three times the amount available under paragraph (1) of 
this subsection. 
(B) Private Right of Action for Consumers - 
(1) In General -An individual who has been injured as a direct result 
of his or her confidential proprietary network information being obtained, 
used, or sold in violation of this section may file a civil action in any court 
of competent jurisdiction against the person who caused the injury by 
violating this section. 
(2) Remedies - A court in which such civil action has been brought 
may award damages of not more than PhP 20,000 for each violation of 
this section with respect to the plaintiff's customer proprietary network 
information. 
(3) If the court finds that the defendant willfully r knowingly violated 
this section or the regulations prescribed under this section, the court may, 
in its discretion, increase the amount of award to not more than three (3) 
times the damages determined by the court under paragraph (2). 
(C) Civil Penalty - 
(1) In General -Any person who violates this section shall be subject 
to a civil penalty of not more than PhP 20,000 for each violation or each 
day of a continuing violation, except that the amount assessed for any 
continuing violation shall not exceed a total of PhP 20,000,000 or any 
single act or failure to act. 
(2) Separate Violations -A violation of this section with respect to the 
customer proprietary network information of one person shall be treated 
as a separate violation with respect to the customer proprietary network 
information of any other person. 
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Sec. 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part thereof, is held 
invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise 
affected shall remain valid and subsisting. 
Sec. 8. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation 
contrary to, or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, 
modified or amended accordingly. 
Sec. 9. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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