US court bars unauthorized sale of phone records

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has successfully sued a U.S. databroker for using false pretences to gather and sell consumers' phone records to third parties without the consumer's knowledge or consent.  Accusearch, doing business as Abika.com, is also the subject of a complaint originally filed by CIPPIC with the Canadian Privacy Commissioner in June 2004.  CIPPIC alleges that the company gathers and sells personal information about Canadians without their consent, in contravention of federal data protection law. CIPPIC is awaiting a finding on its complaint.