Section 16-11-70. Telephone records privacy protection

   (a) As used in this Code section, the term:

   (1) "End user" means any person, corporation, partnership, firm, municipality, cooperative, organization, governmental agency, building owner, or other entity provided with a telecommunications service for its own consumption and not for resale.

   (2) "Telephone record" means information retained by a telecommunications company that relates to the telephone number dialed by the customer, the number of telephone calls directed to a customer, or other data related to the telephone calls typically contained on a customer telephone bill, such as the time the calls started and ended, the duration of the calls, the time of day the calls were made, and any charges applied. For purposes of this Code section, any information collected and retained by, or on behalf of, customers utilizing caller identification or other similar technology does not constitute a telephone record.

   (3) "Telephone records broker" means any person or organization that is neither a telecommunications company nor a vendor or supplier for a telecommunications company obligated by contract to protect the confidentiality of telephone records and that purchases, acquires, sells, or releases the telephone record of any third party with whom it has no prior or existing business relationship or that attempts to purchase, acquire, sell, or release the telephone record of any party with whom it has no prior or existing business relationship.

(b) It is unlawful for any telephone records broker to purchase, acquire, sell, or release the telephone records of any person who is a Georgia resident or to attempt to purchase, acquire, sell, or release the telephone record of any third party who is a Georgia resident. This Code section applies whether the customer's telephone record is obtained by the telephone records broker directly from a telecommunications company or from any other third-party source. For purposes of this Code section, a person is a Georgia resident if the individual has a Georgia billing address.

(c) A violation of any provision of this Code section shall be punishable by a civil fine in an amount not to exceed $10,000.00 for each violation. The prosecuting attorney or the Attorney General shall be authorized to prosecute the civil case. Each telephone record purchased, acquired, sold, or released and each attempt to purchase, acquire, sell, or release a telephone record constitutes a separate violation of this Code section.

(d) Any violation of this Code section shall constitute a tort and shall create a right of action in the person or entity whose telephone records have been purchased, acquired, sold, or released for which damages may be recovered. Special damages may be inferred by the violation. Reasonable attorney's fees shall be awarded to the plaintiff where the plaintiff has prevailed in the underlying action.

(e) No provision of this Code section shall be construed to prevent any action by a law enforcement agency or any officer, employee, or agent of a law enforcement agency to obtain the telephone records or personal identifying information of any third party who is a Georgia resident in connection with the performance of the official duties of the agency, officer, employee, or agent.

Code 1981, § 16-11-70, enacted by Ga. L. 2006, p. 562, § 3/SB 455.