2013 New York Consolidated Laws
GBS - General Business
Article 26 - (390 - 399-ZZZ) MISCELLANEOUS
399-DD*3 - Consumer communications records privacy.

 
    * §  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