Dissemination of telephone numbers and other identifying information - 66 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2906

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     § 2906.  Dissemination of telephone numbers and other
                identifying information.
        (a)  General rule.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
     law, but subject to the provisions of this title, any telephone
     call identification service offered in this Commonwealth by a
     public utility or by any other person, partnership, association
     or corporation that makes use of the facilities of a public
     utility shall be lawful if it allows a caller to withhold
     display of the caller's telephone number and other identifying
     information on both a per-call and per-line basis from the
     telephone instrument of the individual receiving the telephone
     call.
        (b)  Charge prohibited.--There shall be no charge to the
     caller who requests that the caller's telephone number and other
     identifying information be withheld on a per-call basis. The
     commission may approve a charge to the caller who requests that
     the caller's telephone number and other identifying information
     be withheld on a per-line basis if the commission finds, after
     notice to all customers and an opportunity for hearing, that the
     charge is just and reasonable and that the charge should be
     imposed on the caller. Tariff rates shall not apply to victims
     of domestic violence receiving services from a domestic violence
     program or protected by a court order nor to social welfare
     agencies, such as women's shelters, health and counseling
     centers, public service hotlines and their staffs. In addition,
     the commission shall direct that the tariff rates shall not
     apply to customers who order the per-line blocking service
     within 60 days of its introduction or within 60 days of any
     request for new telephone service or transfer of existing
     telephone service. The commission shall also direct that, as
     soon as practicable, any public utility or any other person,
     partnership, association or corporation that makes use of the
     facilities of a public utility which provides this service shall
     also provide to the calling party only the ability to
     selectively unblock at no charge on a per-call basis a blocked
     line using a means which differs from the means to activate per-
     call blocking. The commission, in the interest of balancing
     respective privacy interests, shall also permit a tariffed
     service that automatically prevents the completion of telephone
     calls to customers who do not wish to receive calls from callers
     that withhold their telephone number or other identifying
     information; the terms and conditions of such a tariff shall be
     subject to commission approval.
        (c)  Notice.--A public utility offering a call identification
     service shall notify its subscribers that their calls may be
     identified to a called party at least 60 days before the service
     is offered and shall clearly advise its subscribers of their
     ability to withhold their telephone number and other identifying
     information on both a per-call and a per-line basis. The form of
     the required notices must be approved by the commission.
        (d)  Exceptions.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
     but subject to the provisions of this title, provision of any of
     the following caller identification services shall be lawful
     even if the caller cannot withhold display of the caller's
     telephone number and other identifying information from the
     instrument of the individual receiving the telephone call:
            (1)  An identification service which is used within the
        same limited system, including a Centrex or private branch
        exchange (PBX) system, as the recipient telephone.
            (2)  An identification service which is used on a public
        agency's emergency telephone line or on the line which
        receives the primary emergency telephone number 911.
            (3)  An identification service provided in connection
        with any "800" or "900" access code telephone service until
        the public utility develops the technical capability to
        comply with subsection (a), as determined by the commission.
        Until such capability is developed, telephone subscribers
        shall be notified annually by the public utility that use of
        an "800" or "900" number may result in the disclosure of the
        subscriber's telephone number or other identifying
        information to the called party.
            (4)  An identification service for which the
        identification information is a necessary component of the
        communication being conveyed and for which, without such
        information, the called party would not reasonably be able to
        act upon or otherwise use the other portions of the
        communication. This exception is intended to cover services,
        such as health alert, home monitoring and other similar
        telemetry services.
     (Dec. 22, 1993, P.L.565, No.83, eff. imd.)

        1993 Amendment.  Act 83 added section 2906.

Last modified: November 27, 2007