Protection of survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and related crimes

In this section: The term “abuser” means an individual who has committed or allegedly committed a covered act against— The term “covered act” means conduct that constitutes— Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall be construed to require a criminal conviction or any other determination of a court in order for conduct to constitute a covered act. The term “covered provider” means a provider of a private mobile service or commercial mobile service, as those terms are defined in section 332(d) of this title. The term “primary account holder” means an individual who is a party to a mobile service contract with a covered provider. The term “shared mobile service contract”— The term “survivor” means an individual who is not less than 18 years old and— Not later than 2 business days after receiving a completed line separation request from a survivor pursuant to subsection (c), a covered provider shall, as applicable, with respect to a shared mobile service contract under which the survivor and the abuser each use a line— Except as provided in paragraphs (5) through (7), a covered provider may not make separation of a line from a shared mobile service contract under paragraph (1) contingent on any requirement other than the requirements under subsection (c), including— Nothing in paragraph (2) shall be construed to require a covered provider to provide a rate plan for the primary account holder that is not otherwise commercially available. A covered provider shall offer a survivor the ability to submit a line separation request under subsection (c) through secure remote means that are easily navigable, provided that remote options are commercially available and technically feasible. Notwithstanding paragraph (2), beginning on the date on which a covered provider transfers billing responsibilities for and use of a telephone number or numbers to a survivor under paragraph (1)(A) in response to a line separation request submitted by the survivor under subsection (c), unless ordered otherwise by a court, the survivor shall assume financial responsibility, including for monthly service costs, for the transferred telephone number or numbers. Notwithstanding paragraph (2), upon the transfer of a telephone number under paragraph (1)(B) in response to a line separation request submitted by a survivor under subsection (c), the survivor shall have no further financial responsibilities to the transferring covered provider for the services provided by the transferring covered provider for the telephone number or for any mobile device associated with the telephone number. Notwithstanding paragraph (2), beginning on the date on which a covered provider transfers billing responsibilities for and rights to a telephone number or numbers to a survivor under paragraph (1)(A) in response to a line separation request submitted by the survivor under subsection (c), unless otherwise ordered by a court, the survivor shall not assume financial responsibility for any mobile device associated with the separated line, unless the survivor purchased the mobile device, or affirmatively elects to maintain possession of the mobile device. If a covered provider separates a line from a shared mobile service contract under paragraph (1) and the primary account holder is not the survivor, the covered provider shall notify the survivor of the date on which the covered provider intends to give any formal notice to the primary account holder. In the case of a survivor seeking to separate a line from a shared mobile service contract, the survivor shall submit to the covered provider a line separation request that— verifies that an individual who uses a line under the shared mobile service contract has committed or allegedly committed a covered act against the survivor or an individual in the survivor’s care, by providing— in the case of relief sought under subsection (b)(1)(A), with respect to— a line used by an individual in the care of the survivor that the survivor seeks to have separated, includes an affidavit setting forth that the individual— A covered provider shall notify a survivor seeking relief under subsection (b) in clear and accessible language that the covered provider may contact the survivor, or designated representative of the survivor, to confirm the line separation, or if the covered provider is unable to complete the line separation for any reason, pursuant to subparagraphs (B) and (C). A covered provider shall notify a survivor under subparagraph (A) through remote means, provided that remote means are commercially available and technically feasible. When completing a line separation request submitted by a survivor through remote means under paragraph (1), a covered provider shall allow the survivor to elect in the manner in which the covered provider may— This subsection shall not affect any law or regulation of a State providing communications protections for survivors (or any similar category of individuals) that has less stringent requirements for providing evidence of a covered act (or any similar category of conduct) than this subsection. Notwithstanding section 222(c)(2) of this title, a covered provider and any officer, director, employee, vendor, or agent thereof shall treat any information submitted by a survivor under subsection (c) as confidential and securely dispose of the information not later than 90 days after receiving the information. Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to prohibit a covered provider from maintaining, for longer than the period specified in that paragraph, a record that verifies that a survivor fulfilled the conditions of a line separation request under subsection (c). A covered provider shall make information about the options and process described in subsections (b) and (c) readily available to consumers— The requirement to effectuate a line separation request pursuant to subsection (b)(1) shall not apply to a covered provider if the covered provider cannot operationally or technically effectuate the request. If a covered provider cannot operationally or technically effectuate a line separation request as described in paragraph (1), the covered provider shall— notify the survivor who submitted the request of that infeasibility— A covered provider and any officer, director, employee, vendor, or agent thereof shall not be subject to liability for any claims deriving from an action taken or omission made with respect to compliance with this section and the rules adopted to implement this section. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the authority of the Commission to enforce this section or any rules or regulations promulgated by the Commission pursuant to this section.