Rhode Island § 39-2-24 - Duties of Utilities and Carriers

§ 39-2-24. Confidentiality of telephone records.

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Customer” means the person who subscribes to telephone service from a telephone company or the person in whose name the telephone service is listed.

(2) “Person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, limited-liability company, trust, estate, cooperative association, or other entity.

(3) “Procure” in regard to a telephone record, means to obtain by any means, whether electronically, in writing or in oral form, with or without consideration.

(4) “Telephone” means any device used by a person for voice communications, in connection with the services of a telephone company, whether the voice communications are transmitted in analog, data, or any other form.

(5) “Telephone company” means any person that provides commercial telephone service to a customer, irrespective of the communications technology used to provide the service, including, but not limited to, traditional wireline or cable telephone service, cellular, broadband PCS or other wireless telephone service, microwave, satellite or other terrestrial telephone service, and voice over internet telephone service.

(6) “Telephone record” means information retained by a telephone company that relates to a telephone number dialed by a customer or another person using the customer’s telephone with the customer’s permission, or the incoming number of a call directed to a customer or another person using the customer’s telephone with the customer’s permission, or other data related to the call typically contained on a customer’s telephone bill, including, but not limited to, the time the call started and ended; the duration of the call; the time the call was made; and any charges applied. A telephone record does not include information collected and retained by or on behalf of a customer utilizing caller identification or similar technology.

(b) No person shall: (1) Knowingly procure, attempt to procure, solicit, or conspire with another to procure a telephone record of any resident of this state without the authorization of the customer to whom the record pertains; (2) Knowingly sell or attempt to sell a telephone record of any resident of this state without the authorization of the customer to whom the record pertains; or (3) Receive a telephone record of any resident of this state with the knowledge the record has been obtained without the authorization of the customer to whom the record pertains or by fraudulent, deceptive, or false means.

(c) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person acting pursuant to a valid court order or warrant, or a certification in accordance with § 39-2-20 for the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of persons with nonpublished service, or pursuant to chapter 21.1 of this title.

(d) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prohibit a telephone company from obtaining, using, disclosing, or permitting access to any telephone record, either directly or indirectly, through its agents, employees, or contractors: (1) As otherwise authorized by law; (2) With the lawful consent of the customer; (3) As may be necessarily incident to the rendition of the service, including, but not limited to, initiating, rendering, billing, and collecting customer charges, or to the protection of the rights or property of the telephone company, or to protect the customer of those services and other carriers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of, or subscription to, such services; (4) To a governmental entity, if the telephone company reasonably believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person justifies disclosure of the information; or (5) To the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in connection with a report submitted thereto under section 227 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 [repealed].

(e) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to expand upon the obligations and duties of any telephone company to protect telephone records beyond those otherwise established by federal or state law, including, but not limited to, provisions governing customer proprietary network information in section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 222.

(f) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a telephone company and its agents or representatives who act reasonably and in good faith pursuant to this section.

(g) Each telephone company that maintains telephone records of a resident of this state shall establish reasonable procedures to protect against unauthorized or fraudulent disclosure of records that could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to any customer. For purposes of this subsection, a telephone company’s procedures shall be deemed reasonable if the telephone company complies with the provisions governing customer proprietary network information in section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 222.

(h) Any violation of subsection (b) of this section: (1) Involving a single telephone record of up to not more than ten (10) telephone records of a resident of this state shall be a misdemeanor; and (2) Involving more than ten (10) telephone records of a resident of this state shall be a felony.

(i) Any violation of subsection (b) of this section shall be deemed an unfair or deceptive trade act or practice under chapter 13.1 of title 6.