California regulators weigh need for stronger cellphone privacy rules

Amid growing concern about the hot-button issue of cellphone privacy, state regulators are considering whether California needs stronger protections. At issue before the Public Utilities Commission is whether it's time to update the state's more than two-decade-old telephone privacy rules, developed at the dawn of the hand-held cellphone era.

Consumer groups have urged the five-member commission to open an investigation. But the wireless industry, led by giant AT&T, is opposed to any changes. Commissioners, meanwhile, are divided on the question set for debate next month. Commissioner Catherine Sandoval, a law professor who specializes in telecommunications, said it's time to consider whether changes are needed. "New forms of personal information and new capacities for tracking that information" were unforeseen when earlier laws and regulations were written, she said. In particular, Sandoval noted that wireless carriers now track a user's location and match it to demographic data.