The NSA is in the news again in ongoing coverage that is captivating the media but not very useful to the privacy-conscious consumer.
In 2002 Bush is said to have signed a secret authorization for the NSA to bug Americans in violation of FISA laws.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5058704
In Dec 2005 the New York Times after waiting a year finally came out with pulitzer prize coverage of the story without mentioning any telcos by name.
Reports by NYT reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau
Bush Lets US Spy on Callers Without Courts - 12/16/05
Spying Program Snared US Calls - 12/21/05
Spy Agency Mined Vast Data Trove, Officials Report - 12/24/05
For a few months there was a flurry of spinoff stories and things died down.
For example, in Jan. EFF sued AT&T, alleging it illegally cooperated with the National Security Agency's secret eavesdropping program.
On Feb. 6, USA TODAY wrote that "the National Security Agency has secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to seven telecommunications executives."
On March 29 the FISA Judges Spoke Out on the NSA Spy Program, one resigned in protest.
On May 5, Bush signed an official memo saying the telcos could lie about their involvement and not be violation of securities regulations.
On May 10 a major story broke in USA Today with lots of "no comment" statements from telcos that serve over 200 million Americans.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
On May 13 telcos were sued for $50 billion over the wiretap program and their stock fell.
Starting May 15 a carefully crafted doublespeak denial was issued by Verizon and a firm one was issued by Bellsouth.
On May 17, 2006 as part of a continuing lawsuit the EFF introduced a set of technically detailed reports from AT&T employee Mark Klein.
AT&T Whistle-Blower's Evidence
Also reporters got more nervous, ABC Says Government Is Tracking Reporters' Calls
Several key points were lost on the public and deemphasized in the corporate media.
1. The reportage alleged the telcos are under paid contract with the NSA to continually supply a stream of phone records to the "largest database ever assembled in the world"
2. Some of the stories would mention in passing that emails were also involved.
3. The focus was on AT&T, Bellsouth & Verizon as offenders and Qwest as the lone holdout, other companies were largely ignored.
4. The NSA was the depicted as the main culprit, although the FBI, IRS, SEC and others were given access to the same data.
5. No practical advice was ever given to consumers as to how they could protect themselves.
6. The secret memo is still secret, the exact authorized guidelines are unknown.
7. The random-access database lets officials see all calls made from a number AND to a number.
Qwest
According to a statement issued by Joseph Nacchio's (a former Qwest employee) attorney, Qwest refused to hand over any records because the NSA didn't have a warrant. Qwest, has declined to comment on the NSA issue.
Cable Companies
Leading cable operators say a 1984 federal law would stop them from handing customer calling records to the National Security Agency the way AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth allegedly have...
Comcast spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick said the company "will only provide customer information pursuant to a valid court order and only if Comcast's records contain information sufficient to identify the customer account on the (date or dates) listed in the court order."
A representative of Cox Communications, David Grabert, said: "Cox has never received a request for information or a wiretap that was not accompanied by a warrant."
RCN Corporation, assures its customers that it has not contributed to the NSA's reportedly vast database of Americans' phone call records. The company hosts more than a million customers in some of the nation's largest metropolitan areas, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. "We are committed to the privacy and confidentiality of our customers' personally identifiable information," said Richard Ramlall, a vice president of the Herndon, Va.-based firm.
Vonage spokeswoman Brooke Schulz said, "Our position on this issue as it relates to Vonage is pretty clear. We don't supply any government authority with call record data or any sensitive customer information without a subpoena."
T-Mobile USA, which is owned by German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom AG, said it is not participating. "T-Mobile is not a participant in any NSA program for warrantless surveillance and acquisition of call records, and T-Mobile has not provided any such access to communications or customer records, said Peter Dobrow, T-Mobile USA spokesman
Among Internet service providers, representatives for AOL LLC said the company complies with individual government subpoenas and court orders but does not have a blanket program for broader sharing of customer data.
Les Seagraves, EarthLink's chief privacy officer, said: "We've never even been asked to give information without the benefit of a subpoena or a court order behind it. And our policy is to require a subpoena or court order, basically to require a court of law behind the inquiry." "We're very interested in protecting our customers' privacy and balancing that with our duties to comply with the law," Seagraves added. "Our way to balance that is to definitely make sure we have a valid legal request before we release any information."
Microsoft Corp. had "never engaged in the type of activity referenced in these articles," according to a statement from Scott Charney, its vice president for trustworthy computing.
Google Inc. spokesman Steve Langdon said his company does not participate, either.
Not private enough. There have been stories in the Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times and Wired.com detailing web data brokers that sell phone records. One blogger bought the call records for General Wesley Clark just to make that point. CBS and NBC did stories as well, but the practice is still legal. In short thousands of telco employees have access to your call records and text messaging and any one of them is a potential leak to a data vendor. Buried in your wireline and wireless telephone subscriber agreement is a notice concerning "customer proprietary network information" (CPNI). CPNI is your calling records. CPNI shows the phone numbers you called and received and for how long you talked. The hitch is that CPNI data is only private if you opt-out and most telco reps have never heard of CPNI. It is one of the ironic twists of political fate that the privacy of XXX video rental records are better protected in the law than your medical records and phone records take a back seat to both.
Have you ever called an AIDS hotline, made an appointment for an abortion, called up a twelve-step friend, or had to deal with child, spousal or elder abuse? If you are in the clergy, the legal profession, in finance, journalism or the helping professions, your reputation is particularly vulnerable.
It is well known in privacy circles that the government can at will with no court action ask for and get bank records, civil & criminal records, credit records, utility records, follow you, and photograph you.
With court supervision it can break & enter your private space, eavesdrop on your personal communications including reading your mail
In short you can find yourself living in a fish bowl and if there is anything the list bit embarrassing or privacy critical about your life that you would rather other people not know these intrusive techniques will seek it out and allow you to be hostage to the whims of entrapment, blackmail, unemployment or find your life in danger as an informant.
The larger, more powerful and plentiful the databases become, the more opportunity and temptation there is to misuse them.
If prosecutorial abuse enters the picture what is learned can selectively be used to frame you for a crime you did not commit. The lower your income, the more helpless you are to counter such actions. Just ask Gov. Ryan how so many people got on death row in Illinois.
The FISA courts came into being because of widespread abuse by officials who could not restrain themselves.
Identity theft is at an all time high largely because so much personal information is so freely available.
Many people have had their life turned upside down because of mistaken identity. Why paint a bullseye on your back?
Remember the cards are automatically stacked against you if you are ever questioned. It is a federal felony to lie to a federal employee, even the mailperson. But agents are free to and will tell you any imaginable lie to back you into a corner, remember they do this for a living.
Historically telco policy has been no court order, no customer information. The secret White House memo changed all that. Dick Cheney and his top legal adviser argued that the National Security Agency should intercept purely domestic telephone calls and e-mail messages without warrants. As a matter of policy the current White House can create secret Special Access Programs (SAPs) so that it is a federal felony for the details of such a program to be publicly discussed by those involved. This is playing with a stacked deck, that is, secret laws.
They also use signing statements for legislation that extensively modify or veto the intent of the legislation with virtually no public awareness. The White House can say that virtually any kind of misbehavior is legal because by issuing executive orders and signing statements, it can simply declare that it is legal.
Consensus and compromise are important aspects of democracy, should a president act like a Texas sheriff?
Think about your political philosophy and the Golden Rule, are you truly respecting others and their privacy in your political choices?