The Language of Data Privacy: What Is CPNI and Why Should You Care?
Barracuda Networks, Friday, July 10th, 2026
Barracuda explains Customer Proprietary Network Information and why telecom metadata is a growing breach target.
This Barracuda blog post by Christine Barry examines Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI), the telecommunications metadata such as call records, timestamps, and subscriber details that has become a valuable target for attackers and regulators.
It explains why metadata matters even without names or financial data, and traces major breaches including AT&T incidents and the Salt Typhoon campaign in which Chinese state-sponsored actors compromised U.S. telecom infrastructure.
The article reviews the FCC's 2024 regulatory changes expanding breach notification requirements and offers practical consumer protections like enabling multifactor authentication and opting out of carrier data sharing.