The Federal Trade Commission requested authority from Congress to assess civil penalties against individuals and firms involved in the pretexting cases that sprung up last year. Pretexting refers to obtaining customer phone records under false pretenses. Congress criminalized pretexting last year, but the FTC also wants to leverage fines against the parties allegedly involved. The FCC just proposed fines against companies that it said were not doing enough to protect their subscribers' personal information: Amp'd Mobile, Easterbrooke Cellular and CTC. Article
