On December 20, 2024, the Wireline Competition Bureau (the Bureau) issued a Public Notice regarding the release of data file specifications for the Domestic Violence Hotline Database, as part of implementing the Safe Connections Act of 2022. The Notice “serves as the publication of the specifications for the database download file that Service Providers will use to determine calls and text messages bound for domestic violence hotlines.”
Database Specifications:
- The download file will be a “comma-delimited text file with the following fields for each record:”
- Unique Record Identifier: 7-digit integer “with leading zeros as necessary.”
- Hotline Telephone Number: 10-digit integer.
- Date of Addition: 8-digit integer “representing the year followed by the month, followed by the day (YYYYMMDD) on which the record was added to the download file (YYYYMMDD format).”
- “When the download file is updated, a new complete version of the download file will be created. Files that solely consist of incremental changes to the download file will not be made available.”
Compliance Deadlines:
- Service providers must comply by August 20, 2025.
- Smaller service providers (≤100,000 subscriber lines) are granted at least 14 months from the date of this Notice to comply, although earlier compliance is encouraged.
File Access:
- The Bureau plans to issue additional public notice(s) “announcing download file naming convention, the means by which Service Providers can arrange secure access to the download file (such as how to arrange for credentials for such access), and the availability of the initial database download file for testing.”
- “The Bureau has not yet determined the method by which the download file will be securely accessed once a Service Provider has provided its credentials to the platform used to make the download file available, although it anticipates that secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) will be featured among the available options.”
- “The compliance deadline will be no earlier than two months after the Bureau releases a public notice announcing that the database administrator has made the initial database download file available for testing.”
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