So this is the issue that finally awakens me from my lurking stupor. As many of you, I decided to voice my concern with my telephone carrier, AT&T. Following is my email exchange with them. I provide this so that others can crib what they wish, or perhaps educate me on the finer points of law...which I suppose I am apparently incapable of grasping, given my leftist bent.
Dear Sir or Ms:
USA Today credibly asserts
(http://www.usatoday.com/... that AT&T has made records of my telephone conversation destinations available to the National Security Agency without warrant or compliance with relevant FISA law.
If this is the case, AT&T is in breach of our service agreement and privacy agreement. Please acknowledge the breach and provide details on the manner with which you will remedy this breach.
If this is not the case and the records have not been released to NSA without warrant, please immediately provide me with a statement from an authorized company official to that effect, and take no further action.
I look forward to your admission of breach or alternately your certification that you are in compliance with the privacy agreement and law in a timely manner, preferably within the week.
Thank you.
Snyperkitty
I received their response, shortly thereafter
Dear Mr. Snyperkitty,
Thank you for your recent email. It's our policy not to comment on matters involving national security or litigation. However, rest assured that AT&T follows all laws with respect to requests for assistance from governmental authorities.
Thank you for choosing the AT&T family of companies. We value your business and continued loyalty.
Regards,
Your AT&T Customer Service Representative
to which I then replied:
Dear Sir or Ms:
Thank you for your timely response to my inquiry. I imagine you have received many such inquiries today. Despite your timeliness, I find your initial response unsatisfactory, if not predictable.
Per your response, you indicate "...AT&T follows all laws with respect to requests for assistance from governmental authorities." I must commend your legal staff for crafting a statement which allows much room for interpretation. Despite my appreciation for such legal acumen, I find I require further information to quell my concerns.
To summarize my concern in the form of a question: Did you agree to share private information about your customers (of whom I am just one of purportedly millions) voluntarily, or were you obligated to do so pursuant to federal law? You see, it is my understanding that:
(1) AT&T is "under contract" with the NSA, as credibly asserted by the aforementioned USA Today article, and
(2) Other carriers have not agreed to enter into such contractual arrangements with the NSA
If you assert that you are sharing such information in compliance with federal law, which law compels (or allows) you to do so? It appears that your current actions would require at minimum a court order, pursuant to existent FISA law. Such a court order would arguably warrant your sharing particular data based on some probable cause. Given the fact that other carriers have not complied with the NSA's "request" for cooperation, I can only assume that your cooperation is voluntary, not compulsory.
If you assert that you entered this cooperative endeavor voluntarily, how does such activity not conflict with the prohibitions against disclosing information about your customers' calling habits enumerated in Section 222 of the Telecommunications Act of 1934? Are the consumer-privacy protections enumerated in the Telecommunications Act somehow pre-empted by some other federal law of which we consumers are unaware?
If your cooperation with the NSA is voluntary, why did you do so without providing an opportunity for customers to, in advance, determine whether they wished to have their private information tracked in such a manner? Upon review of your privacy policy, it is unclear whether consumers have the means for restricting or "opting-out" of such sharing with an unaffiliated third-party. Would it be reasonable to assume that the NSA would be classified as an unaffiliated third-party in the context of a voluntary contractual arrangement?
In your privacy policy, you state that you will not "sell" information regarding your customers, without their prior consent. I may be mistaken, but I do not recall providing my consent for such a sale of my private information to the NSA. Assuming you are voluntarily cooperating with the NSA, and considering that, under 50 USC 1802(a)(4), "the Government shall compensate, at the prevailing rate, such carrier for furnishing such aid" I can only assume that, in the existence of a contract, your organization is being duly compensated.
I clearly understand that cooperation with the federal government is a complex concern, to be balanced with the need to maximize shareholder value. Somewhere in that continuum, the rights of the citizens that drive your revenue must be taken into account. As an American citizen, I appreciate and respect the role businesses are obligated to fill with respect to national security. However, I am unconvinced that this alarming arrangement is consistent with the prevailing laws of the land, in particular the Fourth Amendment of the U.S Constitution, FISA as amended, and the Telecommunications Act, not to mention various federal and state-specific privacy laws. I would encourage you to reconsider your position, or at least afford your customers the opportunity to restrict their private information from becoming part of "the largest database in the history of the world," a database we are, apparently funding, with our own tax dollars.
Again, I appreciate your time and consideration of my concerns and look forward to your response with much anticipation. I am confident, based on your statement that you value my "business and continued loyalty," that you will give adequate attention to your response. If your response does not adequately allay my concerns, please be advised that I will be filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, not to mention considering alternative telecommunications providers and encouraging my friends and family to do the same.
Best Regards,
Snyperkitty
Concerned American Citizen
Oh how we frogs do boil and boil. I will post their response, assuming I will receive one, just as soon as I can return my heaving, enraged guts to their proper place...