High Court: Telcos Can Use All Customer Information

The Supreme Court has refused to limit how telephone companies use information gleaned from customers’ bills in trying to sell them additional services, according to wire service reports.

The justices refused to reinstate Federal Communications Commission rules struck down as violations of telephone companies’ free-speech rights. Those rules, imposed under a 1996 telecommunications law, had required companies to get permission to use personal information to market new services to consumers.