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Verizon to Reveal Info About Demands for Phone Records

Verizon says it will publish greater details on the records requests made by law enforcement, beginning in early 2014. Here is Verizon's statement.

To the extent permitted by applicable U.S. and foreign laws and regulations, Verizon’s transparency report will identify the total number of law enforcement agency requests received from government authorities in criminal cases.

In addition, the report will break out this data under categories such as subpoenas, court orders and warrants. Verizon will also provide other details about the legal demands it receives, as well as information about requests for information in emergencies.

Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo already publish transparency reports.

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    Late To The Party (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by squeaky on Fri Dec 20, 2013 at 08:34:41 AM EST
    And it would be also good to know how much money Verizon is profiting from its deal with the government selling our private communications.

    For wiretaps:::

    AT&T, for example, imposes a $325 "activation fee" for each wiretap and $10 a day to maintain it. Smaller carriers Cricket and U.S. Cellular charge only about $250 per wiretap. But snoop on a Verizon customer? That costs the government $775 for the first month and $500 each month after that, according to industry disclosures made last year to Congressman Edward Markey.

    but how much do they make by aiding the government's spying on us?

    To discourage gratuitous requests and to prevent losing money, industry turned to a section of federal law that allows companies to be reimbursed for the cost of "searching for, assembling, reproducing and otherwise providing" communications content or records on behalf of the government. The costs must be "reasonably necessary" and "mutually agreed" upon with the government.

    Discourage gratuitous requests? That is funny..  it does not appear that the government is looking to cut costs on its spying programs, nor is the government looking to be more selective in their gathering of private communications of people on the internet

    ..phone companies developed detailed fee schedules and began billing law enforcement much as they do customers.....The ACLU's Soghoian found in 2009 that Sprint had created a website allowing law enforcement to track the location data of its wireless customers for only $30 a month to accommodate the approximately 8 million requests it received in one year.

    $30/month for 8 million requests???   $240 million?

    ...the fees can add up quickly. The average wiretap is estimated to cost $50,000, a figure that includes reimbursements as well as other operational costs. One narcotics case in New York in 2011 cost the government $2.9 million alone.

    it is no wonder why Verizon was the last telecom to participate, and why the other companies are resistant to turning over information about the spying program... it looks bad that they are making a lot of money by selling our private information to the government.

    Hot damn... (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by kdog on Fri Dec 20, 2013 at 09:09:14 AM EST
    the telecoms are robbing Uncle Sam as blind as they rob prisoners on collect calls.  

    Sometimes it's hard to figure who is the shadier outfit...the government and the corporation keep upping the shady ante.

    Parent

    8 million requests!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (none / 0) (#5)
    by Mr Natural on Fri Dec 20, 2013 at 10:26:05 AM EST
    Apparently, another (none / 0) (#7)
    by KeysDan on Fri Dec 20, 2013 at 01:39:0