RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, data mining uses statistics and artificial intelligence to build models that predict customer behavior; and

WHEREAS, technology enhances the procedure by automating the mining process, integrating it with commercial data warehouses, and presenting it in a relevant way for business users; and

WHEREAS, the information gleaned from data mining helps marketing users to target marketing campaigns more accurately and to align campaigns more closely with the needs, wants, and attitudes of customers and prospective customers; and

WHEREAS, telephone company records contain information regarding residential telephone customer usage patterns that may be of value to businesses that are trying to develop or improve the markets for their products or services; and

WHEREAS, businesses may seek to purchase customer usage patterns information from telephone companies in order to further their business interests; and

WHEREAS, the sale of information regarding a telephone customer's usage record raises issues related to privacy concerns and the conflict between business and individual interests; and

WHEREAS, the telephone industry in the State of Washington has proposed to sell residential telephone customer usage pattern records to telemarketers, and Hawaii may be faced with a similar situation in the near future; and

WHEREAS, a better understanding of the issue would facilitate its consideration by policymakers; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to study the issue of the sale of telephone customer usage pattern records to telemarketers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit its written findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau and the Chair of the Public Utilities Commission.

Report Title:

Sale of Telephone Customer Usage Pattern Records; Study