§ 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.