Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: Sam Ho Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Unlisted Numbers and E911 Message-ID: <10517@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 7 Aug 90 03:30:57 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 37 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 546, Message 5 of 11 Here's a story that combines most of TELECOM Digest's favorite topics: a GTE company, unlisted numbers, and the 911 system. The material is paraphrased from stories in the [Seattle Times] on July 25 and August 1. As most of you know, when an enhanced 911 call is placed, the caller's name, telephone and address are displayed at the PSAP answering the call. Some phone companies print warnings that this happens in the phone book, but the general presumption is that since the caller is in an emergency situation (that's why he called 911) there is no particular expectation of privacy. In mid-July, GTE of Washington, which serves several communities in the area north and east of Seattle, decided to make a change. Citing concerns with the ECPA of 1986, GTE stopped sending the names of unlisted subscribers who dialed 911, although telephone numbers and addresses continued. To top it off, GTE did not bother to discuss the matter with regulators (WUTC) or public safety officials first. When news of the change bubbled through to the authorities, the general opinion was that first off, there was no problem with the ECPA, and secondly, there was a (small) potential for delaying emergency response. Meanwhile, US West, which serves most of the area, had never considered release of unlisted numbers to E911 a problem, though they did balk at after-the-fact release of such information. The matter ended when GTE announced on August 1 that the previous state of affairs would be restored: 911 operators would once again get the names of all callers, even one with unlisted numbers. It all looks like a case of "If it isn't broke, don't fix it." Sam Ho samho@larry.cs.washington.edu