Make a formal complaint to the FCC with this online complaint form: http://www.fcc.gov/complaints

or-

You can also file a complaint with the FCC. There is no charge for filing a complaint. You can file your complaint using an online complaint form. You can also file your complaint with the FCC’s Consumer Center by calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554

More information can be found here: http://www.fcc.gov/guides/protecting-your-telephone-calling-records

I don’t know how this complies with the CPNI compliance rules. Has anyone raised this with the FCC?

Note that they’re saying you can call to *request* to have your name removed. Not that they will do it.

Got the same email (by the way, how can I distinguish this from a phishing attack?). Got the same problem–unspecified error message. Where do you find your account number–certainly not in the email that their web site says IS SUPPOSED TO contain your account number. And not on my current bill–they recently changed account numbers.

The language in the email is clearly intended to hide their legal obligation. Their legal obligation is to get your permission to use your private information before using it. Pretty sleazy to use an opt-OUT program, which means they ASSUME your permission unless you figure out how to disagree.

And finally, their description of CPNI is wildly misleading:

“Your CPNI includes the types of telecommunications and interconnected VoIP services you currently purchase, how you use them and the related billing for those services. CPNI does not include your telephone number, your name or your address.”

Obviously, by “including” VOIP, it misleads people into thinking that it doesn’t apply to them if they’re not using VOIP. But of course it ALSO applies to cell phones and analog land lines. And while the CPNI may not include your phone number or name, it still includes your account number and other information that identifies you! CPNI allows them to look you up–so they can contact you to try to sell you additional services–that’s the whole point of this campaign.

Very misleading.

Information that Your Telephone Company Collects

Your local, long distance and wireless telephone companies, as well as your Voice over Internet Provider (VoIP), collect information such as the numbers you call and when you call them, as well as the particular services you use, such as call forwarding or voice mail. These companies collect this customer information, also called Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) so they can provide the services you have requested and send you bills for them.

Protecting Your Customer Information

Both Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) impose requirements on telephone companies and VoIP providers about how they can use this personal information and what they must do to protect it from disclosure. Both Congress and the FCC have strengthened their rules to combat a practice known as “pretexting,” or posing as the actual customer or a law enforcement official to obtain telephone calling records. In some cases, data brokers offer calling records for sale on the Internet. Congress has passed a law making it a crime punishable by fine or imprisonment of up to 10 years to obtain calling records from a telephone company or VoIP provider by: making false or fraudulent statements, providing fraudulent documents, or accessing customer records without prior authorization through the Internet or fraudulent computer-related activities. The law also prohibits the unauthorized sale or transfer of confidential phone records or the purchase or receipt of such information with knowledge that it was obtained fraudulently or without authorization.

…..

I note that this post still appears after searching google for CPNI. I suspect that won’t happen much longer.