Wed 30 Jan 2008
A Small Victory For Us Consumers, Maybe
Posted by Syd Tash under Alerts
Almost two years ago, the American Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged AccuSearch, an information broker, with illegally obtaining individuals’ phone records, and selling them to any and all comers. This of course was done without the consumers’ knowledge or consent.
Now a judge in Wyoming has found the company guilty as charged. The illegal practice, known as pretexting, was run from the company’s Web site, Abika.com. The site boasts that anyone’s phone records, including the details of all incoming and outgoing calls, could be obtained for a fee.
This information is not legally available to the public, so the FTC claims that AccuSearch must have obtained it illegally. The judge essentially agreed, and further found that the affected consumers suffered substantial injury from stalkers and other criminals, as well as financial loss and emotional damage. The company was fined $200,000 and ordered to notify the people whose phone records were obtained and sold.
AccuSearch is appealing the decision, so this saga is not over by a long shot. The Federal Communications Commission requires common carriers to notify you if there is a change in your account, such as a new address or password, or if your phone records have been illegally revealed.
Privacy is rapidly disappearing from the Internet. It seems telephone privacy is not far behind. Much Internet traffic travels over phone lines, so it is not just your phone calls that could be at risk.
Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online. He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century. Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here:
= > http://MyPCSecuritySite.com
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