Verizon Says It Turned Over Data Without Court Orders
Firm's Letter to Lawmakers Details Government Requests
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 16, 2007; A01
Verizon Communications, the nation's second-largest telecom company,
told congressional investigators that it has provided customers'
telephone records to federal authorities in emergency cases without
court orders hundreds of times since 2005.
The company said it does not determine the requests' legality or
necessity because to do so would slow efforts to save lives in
criminal investigations.
In an Oct. 12 letter replying to Democratic lawmakers, Verizon
offered a rare glimpse into the way telecommunications companies
cooperate with government requests for information on U.S. citizens.
Verizon also disclosed that the FBI, using administrative subpoenas,
sought information identifying not just a person making a call, but
all the people that customer called, as well as the people those
people called. Verizon does not keep data on this "two-generation
community of interest" for customers, but the request highlights the
broad reach of the government's quest for data.
The disclosures, in a letter from Verizon to three Democrats on the
House Energy and Commerce Committee investigating the carriers'
participation in government surveillance programs, demonstrated the
willingness of telecom companies to comply with government requests
for data, even, at times, without traditional legal supporting
documents. The committee members also got letters from AT&T and Qwest
Communications International, but those letters did not provide
details on customer data given to the government. None of the three
carriers gave details on any classified government surveillance
program.
From January 2005 to September 2007, Verizon provided data to federal
authorities on an emergency basis 720 times, it said in the letter.
The records included Internet protocol addresses as well as phone
data. In that period, Verizon turned over information a total of
94,000 times to federal authorities armed with a subpoena or court
order, the letter said. The information was used for a range of
criminal investigations, including kidnapping and child-predator
cases and counter-terrorism investigations.
Verizon and AT&T said it was not their role to second-guess the
legitimacy of emergency government requests.
The letters were released yesterday by the lawmakers as Congress
debates whether to grant telecom carriers immunity in cases in which
they are sued for disclosing customers' phone records and other data
as part of the government's post-September 11 surveillance program,
even if they did not have court authorization. House Democrats have
said that they cannot contemplate such immunity without first
understanding the nature of the carriers' cooperation with the
government.
"The responses from these telecommunications companies highlight the
need of Congress to continue pressing the Bush administration for
answers. The water is as murky as ever on this issue, and it's past
time for the administration to come clean," said Rep. Edward J.
Markey (D-Mass.), who launched the investigation with panel Chairman
John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.).
Congressional Democrats have been largely stymied in their efforts to
have the Bush administration disclose the scope and nature of its
surveillance and data-gathering efforts after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks. Revelations have come through press reports, advocacy
groups' Freedom of Information Act lawsuits and Justice Department
inspector general reports.
In May 2006, USA Today reported that the National Security Agency had
been secretly collecting the phone-call records of tens of millions
of Americans, using data provided by major telecom firms. Qwest, it
reported, declined to participate because of fears that the program
lacked legal standing.
Last month, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy group in
San Francisco, obtained records through a Freedom of Information Act
lawsuit showing that the FBI sought data from telecom companies about
the calling habits of suspects and their associates, the New York
Times reported. Neither Qwest nor AT&T answered the lawmakers'
question as to whether they had received such requests for
information.
Yesterday's 13-page Verizon letter indicated that the requests went
further than previously known. Verizon said it had received FBI
administrative subpoenas, called national security letters,
requesting data that would "identify a calling circle" for
subscribers' telephone numbers, including people contacted by the
people contacted by the subscriber. Verizon said it does not keep
such information.
"The privacy concerns are exponential each generation you go away
from the suspect's number," said Kurt Opsahl, senior staff attorney
with the EFF. "This shows that further investigation by Congress and
the inspector general is critical."
Earlier this year, the Justice Department's inspector general found
that the FBI may have improperly obtained phone, bank and other
records of thousands of people inside the United States since 2003 by
using national security letters and exigent letters, or emergency
demands for records.
Michael Kortan, an FBI spokesman, said the bureau has suspended use
of community-of-interest data "while an appropriate oversight and
approval policy" is developed. He added that the inspector general is
reviewing the use of those data.
Both Verizon and AT&T suggested in their letters that they already
enjoy legal immunity under existing laws. But AT&T said that when the
lawsuits involve allegations of highly classified activity, the
company cannot prove its immunity claims.
Carriers are facing a raft of lawsuits from individuals and privacy
advocates, such as the EFF and the American Civil Liberties Union,
for allegedly violating Americans' privacy by aiding the NSA's
warrantless surveillance program.
The federal government has intervened, arguing that to continue the
case would divulge "state secrets," jeopardizing national security.
The Senate Intelligence Committee could draft a bill this week that
includes relief for the carriers. The administration is seeking
blanket immunity, which would extend to anyone sued for assisting the
government -- not just telecom carriers -- in its post-Sept. 11
surveillance programs.
"It's rare in these situations where there's agreement between the
plaintiffs and the defendants -- that there are plenty of protections
for telecommunications providers in the existing laws," said the
EFF's Opsahl, adding that no new immunity is necessary. "It appears
that we both agree that the court should be able to look at the full
situation, despite the state-secrets privilege."
In its letter, Verizon said that on occasion, it receives requests
without correct authorizations. For instance, it said, it once
received a request for stored voice mail without a warrant. The
company does not respond until proper authorization is received, it
said.
AT&T and Verizon both argued that the onus should not be on the
companies to determine whether the government has lawfully requested
customer records. To do so in emergency cases would "slow lawful
efforts to protect the public," wrote Randal S. Milch, senior vice
president of legal and external affairs for Verizon Business, a
subsidiary of Verizon Communications.
"Public officials, not private businessmen, must ultimately be
responsible for whether the legal judgments underlying authorized
surveillance activities turn out to be right or wrong -- legally or
politically," wrote Wayne Watts, AT&T's senior executive vice
president and general counsel. "Telecommunications carriers have a
part to play in guarding against official abuses, but it is
necessarily a modest one."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...7/10/15/AR2007
101501857.html
--
"New York Times has all ready sent me a response stating you have
been warned."
-- prison clerk heishman lying as "Osprey" <noneedtok...@mail.com>
in news:2rCdnZNy7LA5OojdRVn_iw@comcast.com
Verizon Says It Turned Over Data Without Court Orders 
Linear Mode
