WP: FCC Probes Selling of Cell Phone Records

[DeepModem Mom]

FCC Probes Selling of Cell Phone Records
By Arshad Mohammed
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; Page D04


The Federal Communications Commission said yesterday that it is investigating the sale of private cell phone records, a move privacy advocates said was welcome but long overdue.

Numerous Web sites say they are able to provide records of incoming and outgoing cell phone calls, some for less than $100. While such records are routinely used by law enforcement agencies, experts warn that they can be exploited by criminals, such as stalkers or abusive spouses. The practice of using trickery to obtain the records from phone companies has been the subject of news reports for months.

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin disclosed the investigation in a Jan. 13 letter to Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and it drew wider notice after the FCC's two Democratic commissioners issued statements about it yesterday....

***

The FCC's enforcement bureau is investigating how companies obtained such records and whether phone companies had not followed rules designed to prevent such information from getting into the wrong hands, Martin said.

Experts say such records are sometimes obtained by people who impersonate cell phone customers and dupe their wireless providers into releasing the data despite safeguards designed to prevent this....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011701451.html

[rumpel]

1. It seems nowadays you can buy any information on anyone. Maybe

it comes with the territory of privatization of governmental agencies and capitalism gone haywire.

I saw the other day on a website, saying on occasion you may even be able to obtain SS#'s. And then people wonder how ID theft can be so rampant.

[Kalisiin]

2. Yep.

One good reason why I don't worry too much about my goddam credit. I figure, fuck it, the worse my credit is, the less likely I am to be a victim of identity theft...who the hell would want to steal MY identity if most folks wouldn't loan me two quarters to rub together??

Why the fuck should I break my back working extra hard to keep good credit, only to have some asswipe schmuck come along and fuck it up for me? No thanks, I'd rather have the fun of fucking it up on my own! At least that way I GET the stuff, instead of someone ELSE getting the stuff, and me just getting the bill!

Piss on the system! Until they come up with a better way to protect us from this sort of shit, I see no reason to keep an extra-good credit profile.

[Skittles]

5. LOL, K

:thumbsup:

[merwin]

6. Unfortunately, the phone companies are completely private agencies,

and pretty much always have been. They just aren't doing their homework when it comes to supposed governemnt agencies asking for records.

[f-bush]

3. You and I both know that this probe isn't going anywhere

Not with shrub's people doing it. It'll just be one big fat whitewash as usual.

[hang a left]

4. can someone buy say your medical records

if they don't know where to look??

[colonel odis]

7. buy info on the numbers of prominent right-wingers.

tom delay, grover norquist, karl rove, et. al.

then publicize who they've called.

this practice will dry up immediately.