[Infowarrior] - Verizon Says It Turned Over Data Without Court Orders

[Richard Forno]

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.

< - >

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501
857_pf.html