WASHINGTON—A bill outlawing deceptive tactics by data brokers to acquire and sell cell phone records may soon get a vote on the House floor after mysteriously being pulled from a scheduled vote in early May.
The possible breakthrough follows a meeting between House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) and House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). Democrats and Republicans on the House panel complained about the bill’s still-unexplained disappearance during two days of hearings on data broker pre-texting—impersonating consumers in order to pry phone records and other subscriber information from cell phone carriers—on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Mr. Barton did talk to Mr. Boehner yesterday (Wednesday). I’m told it was a cordial meeting and that H.R. 4943 was one of the matters that they discussed. Our impression is that the bill will move,” said Terry Lane, deputy communications director of the Commerce Committee. A related data privacy bill that was scheduled for a House vote earlier this year also has fallen out of sight.
The Commerce Committee passed the bipartisan-supported pre-texting bill March 16. The measure was set for a fast-track vote on May 2, but was tabled and has been in limbo ever since. There is speculation the House Intelligence Committee blocked full House consideration of the phone-records bill because some lawmakers want an exemption from the legislation’s privacy-protection provisions for government intelligence-gathering activities.
An ongoing probe by the Commerce oversight and investigations subcommittee has revealed Internet data brokers are selling cell phone records to major corporations, major news outlets and law enforcement.
“I want to make data brokering illegal as well as reprehensible,” said Barton. “In the meantime, I hope our friends in the police agencies and the various law enforcement agencies will find a more efficient way to go that extra step to get the warrants, to get the subpoenas, to go to the courts instead of data brokers to get at the information they need.”
Federal and state officials have filed numerous suits against data brokers in recent months.
