Your Cell Phone Records Are For Sale

Your phone records are for sale

January 5, 2006

BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter

The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone
records are available to anyone -- for a price. Dozens of online
services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security
concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.

Criminals can use such records to expose a government informant who
regularly calls a law enforcement official.

Suspicious spouses can see if their husband or wife is calling a
certain someone a bit too often.

And employers can check whether a worker is regularly calling a
psychologist -- or a competing company.

Some online services might be skirting the law to obtain these phone
lists, according to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has called for
legislation to criminalize phone record theft and use.

In some cases, telephone company insiders secretly sell customers'
phone-call lists to online brokers, despite strict telephone company
rules against such deals, according to Schumer.

And some online brokers have used deception to get the lists from the
phone companies, he said.

"Though this problem is all too common, federal law is too narrow to
include this type of crime," Schumer said last year in a prepared
statement.

The Chicago Police Department is looking into the sale of phone
records, a source said.

Late last month, the department sent a warning to officers about
Locatecell.com, which sells lists of calls made on cell phones and
land lines.

"Officers should be aware of this information when giving out their
personal cell phone numbers to the general public," the bulletin said.
"Undercover officers should also be aware of this information if they
occasionally call personal numbers such as home or the office, from
their [undercover] ones."

Test got FBI's calls in 3 hours

To test the service, the FBI paid Locatecell.com $160 to buy the
records for an agent's cell phone and received the list within three
hours, the police bulletin said.

Representatives of Data Find Solutions Inc., the Tennessee-based
operator of Locatecell.com, could not be reached for comment.

Frank Bochte, a spokesman for the FBI in Chicago, said he was aware of
the Web site.

"Not only in Chicago, but nationwide, the FBI notified its field
offices of this potential threat to the security of our agents, and
especially our undercover agents," Bochte said. "We need to educate
our personnel about the dangers posed by individuals using this site
and others like it. We are stressing that they should be careful in
their cellular use."

How well do the services work? The Chicago Sun-Times paid $110 to
Locatecell.com to purchase a one-month record of calls for this
reporter's company cell phone. It was as simple as e-mailing the
telephone number to the service along with a credit card number. The
request was made Friday after the service was closed for the New
Year's holiday.

'Most powerful investigative tool'

On Tuesday, when it reopened, Locatecell.com e-mailed a list of 78
telephone numbers this reporter called on his cell phone between Nov.
19 and Dec. 17. The list included calls to law enforcement sources,
story subjects and other Sun-Times reporters and editors.

Ernie Rizzo, a Chicago private investigator, said he uses a similar
cell phone record service to conduct research for his clients. On
Friday, for instance, Rizzo said he ordered the cell phone records of
a suburban police chief whose wife suspects he is cheating on her.

"I would say the most powerful investigative tool right now is cell
records," Rizzo said. "I use it a couple times a week. A few hundred
bucks a week is well worth the money."

Only financial info protected?

In July, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a petition
with the Federal Communications Commission seeking an end to the sale
of telephone records.

"We're very concerned about Locatecell," said Chris Jay Hoofnagle,
senior counsel for the center. "This is the company that sold the
phone records of a Canadian official to a reporter 'no questions
asked.' "

Schumer has called for legislation to criminalize the "stealing and
selling" of cell phone logs. He also urged the Federal Trade
Commission to set up a unit to stop it.

He said a common method for obtaining cell phone records is
"pretexting," involving a data broker pretending to be a phone's owner
and duping the phone company into providing the information.

"Pretexting for financial data is illegal, but it does not include
phone records," Schumer said. "We already have protections for our
financial information. We ought to have it for the very personal
information that can be gleaned from telephone records."

---

› See More: Your Cell Phone Records Are For Sale

http://www.chicagotribune.com/techno...,6584397.story
?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

7 Jan 2006 By Christi Parsons, Chicago Tribune [email protected]

Sale of phone files targeted
Blagojevich, Madigan planning crackdown

Illinois officials say they want to stop companies from selling
private telephone records without the consent of consumers,
and they want to know how brokers got those records in
the first place.

But even as Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Atty. Gen. Lisa
Madigan work to prevent privacy invasion at the state
level, some fear Congress may take steps to weaken related
identity theft laws already on the books in Illinois and
elsewhere. Consumer advocates are preparing to join
the fight on both fronts.

"It's important that customers be able to properly protect
themselves," said Brian Imus, senior policy advocate with
the Illinois Public Interest Research Group. "Our privacy
shouldn't be for sale."

In Congress, watchdogs are fighting a measure that they say
would gut state laws requiring companies to notify consumers
whenever their information security has been breached.
As currently crafted, they contend, the proposal would
require notification only when there's a good chance
personal information has fallen into the wrong hands.

In Illinois, as the legislature gears up for a new session
beginning next week, Blagojevich is pushing a series of
proposals designed to crack down on the unauthorized sale
or distribution of telephone records and other private
information by brokers and phone companies.

The release of private phone information can lead identity
thieves to still more private information, experts say.

In particular, the governor is taking aim at the current
practice by some brokers of releasing cellular and landline
records of any private telephone customer for a fee. One
Web site, locatecell.com, offers customers a month's worth
of cell phone logs for just $110.

"This is outrageous and will not be tolerated in Illinois,"
Blagojevich said in a written statement.

For her part, Atty. Gen. Madigan would like to know how
brokers such as locatecell.com are getting the information.
Phone companies aren't supposed to give it to anyone other
than the customer or law enforcement, a lawyer for Madigan said.

"The general proposition is they can't give this out without
the consumer's consent," said Deborah Hagan, chief of
the attorney general's Consumer Protection Division. This
week, Madigan's office sent locatecell.com a subpoena.
Officials speculate that unauthorized parties get hold of
phone information by calling the companies' customer
service lines and pretending to be the account holder.
They also may bribe phone company employees or break
through computer security barriers to get the call logs.

Efforts to reach locatecell.com officials for comment were
unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, some consumer watchdogs are worried
that Congress may weaken existing anti-theft laws.

An Illinois law that went into effect this week requires
companies that collect personal information to notify
customers if their security has been breached, regardless
of whether there's reason to suspect personal details have
fallen into the hands of thieves. The Illinois law is similar
to those in California and other states.

But a measure moving through the US House would take
that prerogative away from states and set a higher standard
for notification, according to consumer activists including
Public Interest Research Group and Private Citizen Inc.

US Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) is trying to change
the proposal.

"To protect themselves against identity theft, consumers need
to know if their personal information may have gotten into
the wrong hands," Schakowsky said. "As currently drafted,
the [act] would pre-empt stronger state laws ......................
Read the Rest :
http://www.chicagotribune.com/techno...,6584397.story
?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

--------------------------------
"Andy" <[email protected]> sent :
Your phone records are for sale
January 5, 2006
BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter
The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone
records are available to anyone -- for a price. Dozens of online
services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security
concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.

Criminals can use such records to expose a government informant who
regularly calls a law enforcement official.

Suspicious spouses can see if their husband or wife is calling a
certain someone a bit too often.

And employers can check whether a worker is regularly calling a
psychologist -- or a competing company.

Some online services might be skirting the law to obtain these phone
lists, according to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has called for
legislation to criminalize phone record theft and use.

In some cases, telephone company insiders secretly sell customers'
phone-call lists to online brokers, despite strict telephone company
rules against such deals, according to Schumer.

And some online brokers have used deception to get the lists from the
phone companies, he said.

"Though this problem is all too common, federal law is too narrow to
include this type of crime," Schumer said last year in a prepared
statement.

The Chicago Police Department is looking into the sale of phone
records, a source said.

Late last month, the department sent a warning to officers about
Locatecell.com, which sells lists of calls made on cell phones and
land lines.

"Officers should be aware of this information when giving out their
personal cell phone numbers to the general public," the bulletin said.
"Undercover officers should also be aware of this information if they
occasionally call personal numbers such as home or the office, from
their [undercover] ones."

Test got FBI's calls in 3 hours

To test the service, the FBI paid Locatecell.com $160 to buy the
records for an agent's cell phone and received the list within three
hours, the police bulletin said.

Representatives of Data Find Solutions Inc., the Tennessee-based
operator of Locatecell.com, could not be reached for comment.

Frank Bochte, a spokesman for the FBI in Chicago, said he was aware of
the Web site.

"Not only in Chicago, but nationwide, the FBI notified its field
offices of this potential threat to the security of our agents, and
especially our undercover agents," Bochte said. "We need to educate
our personnel about the dangers posed by individuals using this site
and others like it. We are stressing that they should be careful in
their cellular use."

How well do the services work? The Chicago Sun-Times paid $110 to
Locatecell.com to purchase a one-month record of calls for this
reporter's company cell phone. It was as simple as e-mailing the
telephone number to the service along with a credit card number. The
request was made Friday after the service was closed for the New
Year's holiday.

'Most powerful investigative tool'

On Tuesday, when it reopened, Locatecell.com e-mailed a list of 78
telephone numbers this reporter called on his cell phone between Nov.
19 and Dec. 17. The list included calls to law enforcement sources,
story subjects and other Sun-Times reporters and editors.

Ernie Rizzo, a Chicago private investigator, said he uses a similar
cell phone record service to conduct research for his clients. On
Friday, for instance, Rizzo said he ordered the cell phone records of
a suburban police chief whose wife suspects he is cheating on her.

"I would say the most powerful investigative tool right now is cell
records," Rizzo said. "I use it a couple times a week. A few hundred
bucks a week is well worth the money."

Only financial info protected?

In July, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a petition
with the Federal Communications Commission seeking an end to the sale
of telephone records.

"We're very concerned about Locatecell," said Chris Jay Hoofnagle,
senior counsel for the center. "This is the company that sold the
phone records of a Canadian official to a reporter 'no questions
asked.' "

Schumer has called for legislation to criminalize the "stealing and
selling" of cell phone logs. He also urged the Federal Trade
Commission to set up a unit to stop it.

He said a common method for obtaining cell phone records is
"pretexting," involving a data broker pretending to be a phone's owner
and duping the phone company into providing the information.

"Pretexting for financial data is illegal, but it does not include
phone records," Schumer said. "We already have protections for our
financial information. We ought to have it for the very personal
information that can be gleaned from telephone records."