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This entry was published on 2014-09-22
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SECTION 399-DD*3
Consumer communications records privacy
General Business (GBS) CHAPTER 20, ARTICLE 26
* § 399-dd. Consumer communications records privacy. 1. For purposes
of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(a) "telephone record" means information retained by a telephone
company that relates to the telephone number dialed from the telephone
of a customer or the incoming number of a call directed to the telephone
of a customer, the content of alphanumerical messages sent to or from a
telephone or other data related to such calls typically contained on a
telephone bill of a customer including but not limited to the time the
call started and ended, the duration of the call, the time of day the
call was made and any charges applied, provided, however, that
information commonly known as caller identification or caller ID
information transmitted to or retained by the recipient of a call shall
not constitute a telephone record;

(b) "telephone company" means any person, firm, partnership,
association, limited liability company, corporation, trust, business or
other entity that provides commercial or residential telephone services
to a customer, irrespective of the communications technology used to
provide such 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;

(c) "telephone" means any device used by a person for voice
communications, in connection with the services of a telephone company,
whether such voice communications are transmitted in analog, data, or
any other form;

(d) "customer" means the person who subscribes to telephone service
from a telephone company or in whose name such telephone service is
listed; and

(e) "procure" in regard to such a telephone record means to obtain by
any means, whether electronically, in writing or in oral form, with or
without consideration.

2. No person, firm, partnership, association, limited liability
company, corporation, trust, business or other entity shall knowingly
and intentionally procure, attempt to procure, solicit or conspire with
another to procure, offer for sale, sell or fraudulently transfer or use
or attempt to sell or fraudulently transfer or use, telephone record
information from a telephone company, without written authorization from
the customer to whom such telephone record information relates except as
otherwise provided for by applicable law. Nothing in this section shall
be construed so as to prevent any action pursuant to a subpoena or by a
law enforcement agency, or any officer, employee, or agent of such
agency, to obtain telephone record information from a telephone company
in connection with the performance of the official duties thereof, in
accordance with other applicable laws.

3. (a) Whenever the attorney general shall believe from evidence
satisfactory to him or her that there is a violation of this section, he
or she may bring an action in the name and on behalf of the people of
the state of New York, in a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin
and restrain the continuation of such violation. In such action,
preliminary relief may be granted under article sixty-three of the civil
practice law and rules. In such action, the court may award reasonable
attorney's fees and damages for actual costs or losses incurred by a
customer whose telephone records were sold or fraudulently transferred
or were attempted to be sold or fraudulently transferred. Whenever the
court shall determine in such action that a person or business violated
this section, the court may impose a civil penalty of one thousand
dollars per violation.

(b) The remedies provided by this section shall be in addition to any
other lawful remedy available.

(c) No action may be brought under the provisions of this section
unless such action is commenced within two years immediately after the
date of the act complained of or the date of discovery of such act.

* NB There are 3 § 399-dd's