GTE Struggles to Cope With Its Blunder
GTE Corp.’s inadvertent publication of unlisted phone numbers and addresses in directories leased to telemarketers has left the company struggling to contain the damage and has triggered privacy and safety concerns among the up to 50,000 affected customers.
The blunder has resulted in about 25,000 calls and 400 e-mails to GTE and 1,500 requests for new phone numbers. But for crime victims, judges, police officers and others, the more serious breach has been the release of their addresses--a mistake that could have safety implications and add to the potential liability woes of GTE, California’s second-largest phone company.
“I am a victim of a crime, and I am at great jeopardy by having this information released,” said a GTE customer whose name, address and phone number were printed in one of the directories. “It’s really unnerving. . . . People need to understand the gravity of this.”
News Triggered Wave of Anger
Stamford, Conn.-based GTE last week acknowledged publicly that a computer software program caused it to mistakenly print the names and unlisted addresses and phone numbers of 45,000 to 50,000 customers in its street address directories. These specialty directories, which are leased to telemarketers and mail solicitors, include general demographic information, along with residential and business listings sorted by address and telephone number.
The company’s admission triggered a wave of anger and concern among the 2.5 million GTE customers who either omit their addresses from directories or pay $1.50 per month to keep their entire listing out of the books.
“Saying it was a computer error is just like saying it was a ‘clerical error’ in the old days. It’s passing the buck,” said a Santa Barbara woman whose unlisted address was printed in a GTE street directory. “It’s inexcusable.”
Phone companies routinely reprint information from their white pages directories in such specialty books, although they are not supposed to include unlisted names, phone numbers and addresses.
The affected directories cover 19 California regions served by GTE, from Santa Barbara south to Huntington Beach and east to Palm Springs.
GTE officials said they learned of the problem at least as early as the first week in March and told state regulators of the error two weeks ago. The company reprinted all directories and last week assigned about 500 employees to the task of calling the affected customers and collecting and replacing the faulty directories.
On Wednesday, the company said it had retrieved about 95% of the estimated 11,000 volumes in use by area businesses.
“We have been very gratified by the response from our customers,” said Nancy Bavec, a GTE spokeswoman. “They have been very patient and understanding, and they realize that mistakes can happen.”
GTE is offering to give affected residential customers a different phone number, a $25 credit, free unlisted phone number status for a year (an $18 value), and, if they change phone numbers, a $50 credit to offset the cost of informing people of the new number.
But for many customers, there could be a far higher price to pay for the loss of privacy.
“For law enforcement, this kind of information is a matter of life and death,” said Municipal Judge Thomas Falls, a former gang prosecutor.
Falls, a GTE customer, said he has gone as far as requiring those financing his home to exclude his address from public records. “You never know who will turn up on your doorstep,” he said.
The accidental listings have touched a nerve among police officers in the region, according to Steve Brackett, chairman of the Santa Monica Police Officers Assn.
Calling the situation “a substantial risk,” Brackett said his organization sent out notices to alert officers of GTE’s error and the possible ramifications.
“For a number of undercover officers and officers who have been involved in high-profile cases, where revenge is always a concern, the safety factor is by far the big concern,” he said. “They can certainly get a new phone number, but that doesn’t really help because their family has been put in jeopardy by the release of the address.”
Dennis Zine, director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said the effects of the error could be far-reaching.
“This could put officers’ lives in danger,” said Zine, whose labor organization represents about 9,800 officers in the Los Angeles Police Department. “We have a lot of officers with young children, and this generates a lot of additional stress for them and their families.”
‘Our Heart Certainly Goes Out to Them’
Since GTE’s mistake was made public late last week, state regulators have fielded hundreds of calls from law enforcement officers and others.
“They’ve described their situations . . . and our heart certainly goes out to them,” said Larry McNeely, chief litigation and resolution officer in the California Public Utilities Commission’s Consumer Services Division. “This has been a very important wake-up call.”
GTE has heard from customers with unique safety issues and is “working with each of them individually and trying to help address their concerns,” Bavec said.
Meanwhile, some customers say they are weighing legal action.
Legal experts said that GTE’s quick offer of compensation might head off a class-action lawsuit but that certain individual customers might have grounds to sue.
The primary difficulty for customers would be proving that they suffered harm from the disclosure, then proving that the GTE street directories were the source of the disclosure, according to Larry Feldman, a civil attorney in Santa Monica.
“It’s going to be tough to make the connection between the publication and the harm,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want to be in GTE’s shoes right now, because I think people are going to be suing them right and left.”
Bavec said GTE has not been served with any lawsuits over the disclosure.
“The chances of something really bad happening [as a result of GTE’s error] is fairly remote,” said Neil McNiece, a labor law and privacy attorney with Haight Brown & Bonesteel in Santa Monica. “On the other hand, if something bad did happen and they were able to prove that link, it’s not going to look good for GTE that they delayed in telling people.”
The PUC, which regulates phone companies, is reviewing GTE’s error. The agency could fine the company up to $20,000 per affected customer; if GTE is found negligent, it could be forced to pay affected customers up to $10,000 each in damages.
Already, GTE has paid a high price. In addition to the cost of reprinting the directories, the company was forced to pay overtime for hundreds of employees who were required to work through the weekend.
The error also will cost GTE at least $93 for each residential customer seeking a new phone number--so far totaling nearly $140,000. GTE notified the 45,000 to 50,000 affected customers by telephone and overnight mail, which costs $10.75 for each letter at the post office.
Times correspondent Richard Winton contributed to this story.
