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Why is all this necessary?
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
has determined that customers’ phone records can be vulnerable
to “pretexters” and data brokers who fraudulently obtain private
information by posing as the customer over the phone or online.
To combat this problem, the FCC has adopted new rules effective
December 2007 that prohibit HTC, CCTC, OCTC, MTC and JAMADOTS
from releasing certain account information without use of a
password to authenticate the customer.
What information is covered?
The new FCC rules govern information known
as Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI). CPNI
includes information about the telephone services to which you
subscribe and information contained in your HTC, CCTC, OCTC, MTC
and JAMADOTS bill. Under new CPNI rules recently adopted by the
FCC, HTC, CCTC, OCTC, MTC and JAMADOTS will no longer be able to
provide certain information regarding your telephone services to
you online or when you call us, unless you have established a
password for your account. In addition, federal law protects the
privacy of cable subscriber information, generally requiring
that HTC, CCTC, OCTC, MTC and JAMADOTS not disclose personally
identifiable information to third parties without your
permission and that HTC, CCTC, OCTC, MTC and JAMADOTS take steps
to prevent unauthorized access to such information.
Can I opt out of this requirement?
In order for us to provide you with customer
service over the phone and online, a password will be required.
We will need you to provide the appropriate password in order to
authenticate you as the account owner, before providing
information to you online or over the phone.
What actions can I take on my account if I don’t know the
password?
The transactions you can complete online or
that an agent can complete for you without a password will be
very limited and will center mainly on technical issues. We
strongly recommend you establish a password at your earliest
convenience in order to allow us to provide the best possible
customer service.
What happens if I don’t know my password?
If you forget your password, you will be
prompted to answer one of your pre-established security
questions. If you are unable to provide the answer, there are a
few options we can utilize:
- We can send your
password to your address of record.
- We can call you
back at the phone number listed on the account (sorry, we
can not make special arrangements to call you at a certain
time – we must be able to call you back immediately.)
- We can e-mail your
password to you at an e-mail address that has been on file
with us for at least 30 days
- You can go to a
local office and show your government-issued photo id, such
as a driver’s license, as proof of being an account owner
Do I need to keep my uniquely assigned PIN number once I have
established a password?
We strongly recommend you keep the letter
with your unique PIN in a secure but easily accessible location,
as your PIN authenticates you as the owner of your HTC, CCTC,
OCTC, MTC and JAMADOTS account.
Where can I get more information on this and whom can I
complain to:
The FCC, which is responsible for
enforcement of the new password rule, provides additional
information regarding the CPNI regulations on its website, at:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/phoneaboutyou.html. Or
you can call the FCC at 1-888-225-5322.
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