Carriers go on the defensive

According to a story in USA Today last Thursday AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon handed over customer call records to the National Security Agency without appropriate legal measures, such as warrants, in hand.

But all three have rebuffed the accusations.

On Tuesday Verizon released a printed statement that says it did not provide the NSA with customer phone records post 9/11 from any of its lines of business. But the carefully worded press released did not make any assertions to what its recently acquired long-distance company MCI may have provided. In fact MCI is not mentioned in the press release at all.

Verizon also pointed out that it “will not confirm or deny whether it has any relationship to the classified NSA program,” discussed in the USA Today story or acknowledged by President George W. Bush.

On Monday BellSouth was the first to issue a statement about its possible participation in the NSA program.

The release from BellSouth says it conducted an internal review and confirmed that it has “not provided bulk customer calling records to the NSA.”

AT&T, while it didn’t issue a press release, is also defending its position. Here is the carrier’s response to Network World’s inquiry to the allegations that it actively handed over customer information to the NSA: “AT&T does not allow wiretapping or give customer information to law enforcement authorities or government agencies without legal authorization.”

“If and when AT&T is asked by government agencies for help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions,” the company says. “Beyond that, we can't comment on matters of national security. This is a national security issue and needs to be addressed on a national level.”

Qwest responded to Network World's inquiry by saying "We don't comment on matters related to national security." According to a story in Network World, Qwest was praised by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a civil liberties group, for refusing to turn over customer records to the NSA.

And according to a story in the New York Times, former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio says after 9/11 Qwest did not fulfill requests from the NSA to hand over call records because there was no legal ground to do so. Nacchio stepped down in 2002 after an insider trading scandal.

The EFF is specifically taking AT&T to task on its alleged involvement in the spy agency’s program. In April, the EFF filed evidence with the courts backing up its claims that AT&T provided unfettered access to its network for the purpose of wiretapping. This filing followed a class action lawsuit the civil liberties group filed in February.

Sprint, the third largest national provider essentially issued a no comment on the topic. “Sprint Nextel is dedicated to protecting the privacy of our customers' communications and complies fully with lawful processes," the company says.

The issue of whether the NSA legally obtained customer call information in an effort to protect the country against a future terrorist attack has finally reached the congressional level. According to a report in USA Today, congress is being briefed by NSA on this program today.