The U.S. Federal District Court (11th Circuit) issued a Restraining Order in Cingular Wireless LLC vs. Data Find Solutions, INC ., James Kester, 1ST Source Information Specialists INC., Kenneth W. German, Steven Schwartz, filed December 2005 (email me for a copy). Cingular’s complaint suggests that accusations from customers about Cingular’s business practices prompted the legal action, not concerns for customer’s privacy.

Cingular’s customers whose information has been obtained
wrongfully by Defendants have mistakenly accused Cingular of selling their private information to third parties, thereby harming the Company’s relationship with its customers…

In the Complaint (email me for a copy), Cingular demands repossession of the goods obtained by the defendants.

Cingular is entitled to replevin of all of its customer information in the possession of the Defendants, regardless of form or manner of storage, including without limitation Cingular’s customer information existing on Defendants’ computers and hard drives .

Among the actions listed in the Temporary Restraining Order that the defendants are enjoined from is “disposing of any confidential Cingular customer information, other than by returning it to Cingular.”

One of the methods Cingular posits 1st Source Information may have used to obtain customer account information is social engineering.

The legal underpinning for the action Cingular cited is the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S .C. § 1030 and the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act as the basis for its claims.

Websites identified as associated with the defendants are www (dot)locatecell (dot)com, www(dot)celltolls(dot)com, www(dot)datafind(dot)org and peoplesearchamerica(dot)com.

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