Verizon Denies Released Phone Records to Government
Following Bell Souths denial Monday, Verizon now has issued a statement disputing the allegation in USA Today that it provided the Government with customer phone records. The New York Times notes a loophole in Verizon's statement:
But the statement by Verizon left open the possibility that MCI, the long-distance carrier it bought in January, did turn over such records -- or that the unit, once absorbed into Verizon, had continued to do so. The company said Verizon had not provided customer records to the National Security Agency "from the time of the 9/11 attacks until just four months ago."
MCI, Sprint and AT&T carry the bulk of the country's long-distance and international calls.
According to a Government official:
A senior government official, granted anonymity to speak for publication about the classified program, confirmed on Friday that the security agency had access to records of most telephone calls in the United States. The official said the call records were used for the limited purpose of identifying regular contacts of "known bad guys." The official would not discuss the details of the program, including the identity of companies involved.
Verizon notes it does not keep records of local calls, which the Times says accounts for 80% of the 463 billion domestic telephone calls made in the U.S.
USA Today is standing by its earlier article.
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