But many also said that SBC is making privacy protection a costly goal.
It turns out that the company will take away discounts for popular offerings like
SBC says this is necessary to ensure that conditions for Federal authorities say that by telling customers that their bills will go up if they opt out of sharing personal data, SBC may be placing financial barriers in the way of privacy protection. Mark Wigfield, a spokesman for the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, said that «telecom providers are prohibited from engaging in unreasonable discrimination.» «If what SBC is doing is designed to prevent people from exercising their privacy rights, that’s not reasonable,» he said. The issue arose after I wrote about a letter SBC is now sending customers informing them that their personal data will be shared among the SBC family of companies unless individual customers say otherwise. The letter didn’t mention that SBC’s corporate family includes as many as 50 subsidiaries. It also didn’t mention that substantial discounts for Eddy Bennett, a Carmel «They told me if I wanted to opt out, they would discontinue my DSL,» Bennett said. "They said they need my information to make the whole thing work. " The data in question is called customer proprietary network information, or CPNI. The FCC defines this as «what numbers you call, how often you call them, how much you pay to call them, what services you subscribe to, how you use those services, and other personal and sensitive information about your telephone usage.» In its letter to customers, SBC said it wants to share such info with subsidiaries «to offer you additional products and services that might be of interest to you or save you money.» Bennett didn’t want that. But faced with disruption of his DSL service, he decided not to opt out. He resigned himself instead to allowing SBC to share his data with all subsidiaries. «They didn’t give me the option of opting out,» Bennett said. John Britton, an SBC spokesman, said the pricing of bundled services centers on a customer’s telephone package. He said the company’s various subsidiaries must be able to examine a customer’s calling data to be able to determine whether that customer is eligible for additional discounted services. «You’re getting a break in price because you’re giving us your business,» Britton said. «We have to make sure that you’re receiving the qualifying features.» In essence, SBC is asking for blanket permission to share customers’ data with all subsidiaries when just one or two may be involved in bundled services. Moreover, the company is saying that its subsidiaries need to see your phone records to approve discounts, rather than having the main phone company make such determinations without passing around customers’ personal info. «We follow all regulatory guidelines for CPNI,» Britton said. He acknowledged that the prospect of higher prices for customers who opt out from data sharing is not disclosed in any of SBC’s written materials. But he said the point is made clear orally by «There are scripts,» Britton said. «Customers are read scripts containing this information.» Bennett, the Carmel real estate broker, said no one read any such script to him. «I would have remembered that,» he said. San Francisco resident Anne Brydon, a retired flight attendant, said she felt SBC was deliberately trying to prevent her from opting out when a service rep warned this week that her DSL bill would go up if she blocked any data sharing. She said that even if the company makes its policy known orally when customers sign up for bundled services, this practice excludes people like her who agree to additional services via the Internet. «I never spoke to an SBC person until I tried to opt out this week,» Brydon said. Terrie Prosper, a spokeswoman for the California Public Utilities Commission, said state regulators weren’t aware of the privacy implications of SBC’s Wigfield, the FCC spokesman, said there doesn’t appear to be a specific rule in the federal commission’s guidelines that addresses what happens if pricing of services acts as a barrier to opting out. But he said the guidelines are clear that the paramount concern is ensuring that consumers’ privacy is safeguarded. SBC’s Britton acknowledged that some people might see higher monthly bills as an obstacle to opting out from having one’s personal info shared. «I wouldn’t call it an obstacle,» he said, «but I can see what you’re saying.» Nevertheless, he reiterated that SBC complies with all relevant federal rules and said the company is required by law to offer services like Internet access and satellite TV through subsidiaries. These subsidiaries, Britton maintained, require access to customers’ data. «We’re focused on giving customers what they want,» he said. «We respect the customer’s right to choose. We respect their privacy.» Customers who feel that their privacy isn’t being respected can lodge a complaint with the FCC by Also, I inadvertently gave the wrong number in my last column for SBC customers wishing to opt out from having their info shared. I gave the number for business customers. Residential customers should call (800) 310–2355. David Lazarus’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He also can be seen regularly on KTVU’s «Mornings on 2.» Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.