Sprint files second data privacy suit

Sprint Nextel continued to crack down on Internet gumshoes, announcing today its second lawsuit in less than a week against a company it’s accusing of illegally obtaining customer records.

Sprint said today it has filed suit against All Star Investigations, a company believed to own and operate several Web sites that sell its billing detail records. Those sites include www.detectiveusa.com, www.miamiprotection.com and www.privatedetectiveusa.com. Last week, Sprint said it filed a similar lawsuit against First Source Information Specialists, which also offers data brokering services.

Sprint claims that these companies illegally acquire its customer records and, in the case of First Source, actually pose as Sprint customers inquiring about their bills.

“The schemes perpetrated by these online data brokers are intolerable, and our intent is to put an end to these practices,” Sprint vice president for telecom management and chief piracy officer Kent Nakamura said in a statement. “These online data brokers attempt to manipulate our customer service resources and detract from service provided to legitimate customers.”

Sprint filed both suits in Florida, and they could just be the first in a string of lawsuits. Sprint said it has an ongoing investigation into all entities that access or attempt to access its customer records without permission. It has also been training its customer service representatives on ways to identify data brokers and their tactics.