Lots of people have been asking what they as individual citizens can do in response to the news about the NSA's new datamining program. Aside from the obvious - write/call all of your reps first thing in the morning - there is in this case another option. Because AT&T and Verizon have both seen fit to share your records with the federal government, you can also take this up with them.
First, as Jane suggests, you can call and switch your telecomm service, and in particular your mobile phone service, to one of the companies that apparently have not yet participated in the program. As of right now, there isn't any indication that either T-Mobile or Sprint have given in to the government's demands, so again, as of right now they're a safe place to land. not only will you be protecting your privacy, but you'll be both rewarding good and punishing bad corporate behavior.
Second, its entirely possible that there will be a massive class-action lawsuit coming out of this. ThinkProgress has more.
And in case you think this is all much ado about nothing, note this line first caught by Josh Marshall from today's WaPo piece on the program.
| Government access to call records is related to the previously disclosed eavesdropping program, sources said, because it helps the NSA choose its targets for listening. |
In other words, they use the data mining program to determine who they are going to wiretap, all without a warrant of course.For once the paranoid people were right - it is entirely possible that the government is listening to your phone conversations. And because all of this is done without any oversight from either Congress or the Courts, there's no telling what they are doing with the info.
Cafferty is right - we already are sliding down the slippery slope to a dictatorship. It may not feel like it yet, but that's only because we don't yet know the full extent of what they are doing.
But hey, maybe I'm overreacting. After all, there's no reason not to trust this government to do the right thing, is there?
Heh.
UPDATE: Looks like there's a grassroots movement to thank the good people over at Qwest for standing up and saying no to big brother.
UPDATE II: I was reading over the WaPo article again and noticed this at the end:
| One government lawyer who has participated in negotiations with telecommunications providers said the Bush administration has argued that a company can turn over its entire database of customer records -- and even the stored content of calls and e-mails -- because customers "have consented to that" when they establish accounts. The fine print of many telephone and Internet service contracts includes catchall provisions, the lawyer said, authorizing the company to disclose such records to protect public safety or national security, or in compliance with a lawful government request.
"It is within their terms of service because you have consented to that," the lawyer said. If the company also consents, "and they do it voluntarily, the U.S. government can accept it." Verizon's customer agreement, for example, acknowledges the company's "duty under federal law to protect the confidentiality of information about the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, and amount of your use of our service," but it provides for exceptions to "protect the safety of customers, employees or property." Verizon will disclose confidential records, it says, "as required by law, legal process, or exigent circumstances." Like the other companies named by USA Today, Verizon declined to confirm or deny that it had turned over customer records. "We do not comment on national security matters, we act in full compliance with the law and we are committed to safeguarding our customers' privacy," spokesman Peter Thonis said in a statement. But Verizon Wireless, a joint venture with Britain's Vodafone Group PLC, flatly denied involvement in the program. |
Two thoughts.
First, it may be true that the fine print includes that language, but that won't make any difference politically. Has anyone actually eer read the fine print on a wireless or telephone contract? And even if they have, do you really think they expected this to be the result? Me neither. Plus, if it turns out the program violates FISA, then I would imagine that waiver won't much matter.
Second, it looks like Verizon Wireless has denied involvement, but Verizon itself has not. I'll be cancelling my Verizon phone line when I move anyway, so that part is already covered. Now I need to find out about AT&T Wireless. The USAToday report mentioned AT&T, but it said nothing that I know of about Cingular. Or did I miss that? Remember that AT&T Wireless (now Cingular) is not the same company as AT&T proper.
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