Two Lawsuits Filed Against Verizon For Providing Telephone Records – Qwest Said Requests From NSA Were Illegal - ACLU Fights Back

May 12th 2006

President Bush

Both Congress and the American people are learning more about the purpose of the Patriot Act. The use of electronic surveillance and search warrants in national security investigations jumped 15% in 2005. But it does not stop there.

In a report issued to Congress, members saw the first detailed use of a controversial form of administrative subpoena that has drawn fire because it can be issued by investigators without court oversight. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Bush administration fought the release of the information, but was unable to stop it after Congress required the release when they reauthorized portions of the Patriot Act this year.

Civil liberties groups are concerned that innocent people caught-up in these probes might not be treated fairly. The report states that the FBI issued 9,254 national security letters in 2005 covering 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents.

According to the Justice Department, the data did not include thousands of letters issued for more limited information, such as home addresses. The data did not include people who were in the United States illegally.

But it gets worse. Experts believe the number probes have increased substantially. The newspaper, USA Today, reported that the NSA (National Security Agency) has compiled the largest database in the world using telephone company records. USA Today says that this database includes information on millions of Americans' everyday telephone calls. Comment on this article at our Forum

The only telecommunications firm that refused to provide the information, Quest, said the request violated privacy laws and the Telecommunications Act. According to USA Today, in the fall of 2001 the NSA requested access to the phone records of Qwest customers. With neither a warrant nor approval from a special court established to handle surveillance matters, the NSA requests were denied.

Other telecommunications companies were quick to comply with the requested phone records. AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp have all turned over customer records.

On Friday, two lawsuits were filed. According to USA Today, two New Jersey public interest lawyers sued Verizon for $5 billion, claiming the phone carrier violated privacy laws by turning over customer records. One lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from supplying the information without a warrant or the subscriber's consent.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says they “strongly condemned the Bush administration’s most egregious abuse of power to date.” The ACLU says that they have confirmed that the “agencies working to combat terrorism are targeting innocent citizens or other lawful residents.”

“Once again, it is clear that the president and the attorney general have lied to the American people,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. “The NSA spying program is not only focused on terrorists or international calls. The government is clearly tracking the calls and communications of millions of ordinary Americans and that's just plain wrong. This news serves only as further proof of how far we have slid into an abuse of power that undercuts the values Americans hold dear.”

Romero added “We can no longer accept hollow, government assurances while they stubbornly refuse to answer questions about the NSA operations. These latest revelations should serve as further proof that this administration does not have satisfactory answers to these vital questions.”

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