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Verizon Says It Turned Over Data Without Court Orders
From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:06:22 -0400
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 _______________________________________________ Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () attrition org) http://attrition.org/dataloss Tenable Network Security offers data leakage and compliance monitoring solutions for large and small networks. Scan your network and monitor your traffic to find the data needing protection before it leaks out! http://www.tenablesecurity.com/products/compliance.shtml
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- Verizon Says It Turned Over Data Without Court Orders Richard Forno (Oct 16)