§ 64.2008   Notice required for use of customer proprietary network
information.

   (a) Notification, generally. (1) Prior to any solicitation for customer
   approval, a telecommunications carrier must provide notification to the
   customer of the customer's right to restrict use of, disclosure of, and
   access to that customer's CPNI.

   (2) A telecommunications carrier must maintain records of notification,
   whether oral, written or electronic, for at least one year.

   (b) Individual notice to customers must be provided when soliciting
   approval to use, disclose, or permit access to customers' CPNI.

   (c) Content of notice. Customer notification must provide sufficient
   information to enable the customer to make an informed decision as to
   whether to permit a carrier to use, disclose, or permit access to, the
   customer's CPNI.

   (1) The notification must state that the customer has a right, and the
   carrier has a duty, under federal law, to protect the confidentiality
   of CPNI.

   (2) The notification must specify the types of information that
   constitute CPNI and the specific entities that will receive the CPNI,
   describe the purposes for which CPNI will be used, and inform the
   customer of his or her right to disapprove those uses, and deny or
   withdraw access to CPNI at any time.

   (3) The notification must advise the customer of the precise steps the
   customer must take in order to grant or deny access to CPNI, and must
   clearly state that a denial of approval will not affect the provision
   of any services to which the customer subscribes. However, carriers may
   provide a brief statement, in clear and neutral language, describing
   consequences directly resulting from the lack of access to CPNI.

   (4) The notification must be comprehensible and must not be misleading.

   (5) If written notification is provided, the notice must be clearly
   legible, use sufficiently large type, and be placed in an area so as to
   be readily apparent to a customer.

   (6) If any portion of a notification is translated into another
   language, then all portions of the notification must be translated into
   that language.

   (7) A carrier may state in the notification that the customer's
   approval to use CPNI may enhance the carrier's ability to offer
   products and services tailored to the customer's needs. A carrier also
   may state in the notification that it may be compelled to disclose CPNI
   to any person upon affirmative written request by the customer.

   (8) A carrier may not include in the notification any statement
   attempting to encourage a customer to freeze third-party access to
   CPNI.

   (9) The notification must state that any approval, or denial of
   approval for the use of CPNI outside of the service to which the
   customer already subscribes from that carrier is valid until the
   customer affirmatively revokes or limits such approval or denial.

   (10) A telecommunications carrier's solicitation for approval must be
   proximate to the notification of a customer's CPNI rights.

   (d) Notice requirements specific to opt-out. A telecommunications
   carrier must provide notification to obtain opt out approval through
   electronic or written methods, but not by oral communication (except as
   provided in paragraph (f) of this section). The contents of any such
   notification must comply with the requirements of paragraph (c) of this
   section.

   (1) Carriers must wait a 30-day minimum period of time after giving
   customers notice and an opportunity to opt-out before assuming customer
   approval to use, disclose, or permit access to CPNI. A carrier may, in
   its discretion, provide for a longer period. Carriers must notify
   customers as to the applicable waiting period for a response before
   approval is assumed.

   (i) In the case of an electronic form of notification, the waiting
   period shall begin to run from the date on which the notification was
   sent; and

   (ii) In the case of notification by mail, the waiting period shall
   begin to run on the third day following the date that the notification
   was mailed.

   (2) Carriers using the opt-out mechanism must provide notices to their
   customers every two years.

   (3) Telecommunications carriers that use email to provide opt-out
   notices must comply with the following requirements in addition to the
   requirements generally applicable to notification:

   (i) Carriers must obtain express, verifiable, prior approval from
   consumers to send notices via email regarding their service in general,
   or CPNI in particular;

   (ii) Carriers must allow customers to reply directly to emails
   containing CPNI notices in order to opt-out;

   (iii) Opt-out email notices that are returned to the carrier as
   undeliverable must be sent to the customer in another form before
   carriers may consider the customer to have received notice;

   (iv) Carriers that use email to send CPNI notices must ensure that the
   subject line of the message clearly and accurately identifies the
   subject matter of the email; and

   (v) Telecommunications carriers must make available to every customer a
   method to opt-out that is of no additional cost to the customer and
   that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Carriers may
   satisfy this requirement through a combination of methods, so long as
   all customers have the ability to opt-out at no cost and are able to
   effectuate that choice whenever they choose.

   (e) Notice requirements specific to opt-in. A telecommunications
   carrier may provide notification to obtain opt-in approval through
   oral, written, or electronic methods. The contents of any such
   notification must comply with the requirements of paragraph (c) of this
   section.

   (f) Notice requirements specific to one-time use of CPNI. (1) Carriers
   may use oral notice to obtain limited, one-time use of CPNI for inbound
   and outbound customer telephone contacts for the duration of the call,
   regardless of whether carriers use opt-out or opt-in approval based on
   the nature of the contact.

   (2) The contents of any such notification must comply with the
   requirements of paragraph (c) of this section, except that
   telecommunications carriers may omit any of the following notice
   provisions if not relevant to the limited use for which the carrier
   seeks CPNI:

   (i) Carriers need not advise customers that if they have opted-out
   previously, no action is needed to maintain the opt-out election;

   (ii) Carriers need not advise customers that they may share CPNI with
   their affiliates or third parties and need not name those entities, if
   the limited CPNI usage will not result in use by, or disclosure to, an
   affiliate or third party;

   (iii) Carriers need not disclose the means by which a customer can deny
   or withdraw future access to CPNI, so long as carriers explain to
   customers that the scope of the approval the carrier seeks is limited
   to one-time use; and

   (iv) Carriers may omit disclosure of the precise steps a customer must
   take in order to grant or deny access to CPNI, as long as the carrier
   clearly communicates that the customer can deny access to his CPNI for
   the call.

   return arrow Back to Top