AN ACT CONCERNING EMPLOYEES OF CALL CENTERS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2005) (a) As used in this section and section 2 of this act:

(1) "Call center" means an entity whose primary purpose involves the initiation or receipt of telephonic communications on behalf of any person for the purpose of (A) initiating sales, including telephone solicitations, or (B) providing or receiving services or information in connection with the provision of other services or benefits.

(2) "Customer service employee" means a person employed by or working on behalf of a call center.

(b) Within the first thirty seconds of answering a telephone call made by a resident of this state to a call center, or within the first thirty seconds of making a telephone call on behalf of a call center to a resident of this state, a customer service employee shall state (1) the employee's name or registered alias, (2) the name of the call center by whom the employee is employed, (3) the city, state and country in which the employee is located, and (4) if applicable, the name and telephone number of an authorized representative of the entity utilizing the services of the call center.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2005) It shall be an unfair trade practice within the provisions of chapter 735a of the general statutes for a call center or customer service employee to transmit to any foreign country any personal identifying or financial information about a person who receives a telephone call from, or places a telephone call to, a call center, without the consent of such person or persons to whom the information pertains. For purposes of this section, "personal identifying or financial information" includes, but is not limited to, a motor vehicle operator's license number, Social Security number, employee identification number, mother's maiden name, account number or credit card number.

Statement of Purpose:

To require employees of call centers to identify themselves to consumers and to prohibit such employees from sending consumers' personal identifying or financial information to foreign countries.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]