Government agencies are using brokers to buy phone records.
Surprised? Or OUTRAGED?
I was listening to Marketplace on my NPR station the other day and they had an item called
Congressional hearings on data brokers by John Dimsdale. It started out with announcer KAI RYSSDAL:
I saw this in the paper today. The Department of Veterans Affairs will pay for a year's worth of credit monitoring for vets whose personal data was stolen. A disc with social security numbers and the like was taken from a department employee's home last month.
Outright theft is just one way information can be lost. It is often bought and sold, too. A House subcommittee started hearings today on that very subject. Companies that collect your phone records and sell them on the open market. Our Washington bureau chief John Dimsdale has more.
(But toward the end Dimsdale said this -Ed.)
Earlier this spring, a House committee voted to outlaw the deceptive collection of telephone records, but the bill disappeared from the floor calendar on May 11. Committee member Janice Schakowsky, a Democrat from Illinois, says at first she was mystified.
JANICE SCHAKOWSKY: But I felt less confused when eight days later the USA Today did break the story that the National Security Agency was acquiring the public's phone records and thought well maybe that's the reason why this bill became suddenly too sensitive.
Apparently, the law that was designed to protect phone records being bought and sold (as what happened to General Clark*) was SHELVED by the GOP congress!
At the House committee hearing today, "11 data brokers pled the fifth amendment today and refused to answer committee questions."
Don't that beat all?
* John Aravosis of AmericaBlog bought and paid for General Clark's phone records and published them Jan 12, 2006
AMERICAblog just bought General Wesley Clark's cell phone records for $89.95
Then the Chicago Sun-Times ran this
"Blogger buys presidential candidate's call list"
Clark responds (from Clark Blog):
"It's a bad feeling," Clark said. "It's like having someone say, you know, 'Here's your wallet. I've been through all of it, and I think we ought to show what all of your credit cards are and how much money you carry around.' It's just a feeling of your privacy is invaded, and it feels that something that is personal, that belongs to you, is just thrown out there."
"The laws have to catch up with technology, and sometimes it's hard," Clark said. "I've been through this experience. I hope it's an example."
...which led to numerous lawsuits around the country
Outcry Over Sale of Cell Phone Calling Records
Congress May Act; FCC and FTC Have Not
January 17, 2006
By Martin H. Bosworth ConsumerAffairs.Com
There are so many related stories on the sidebar, please go to the link for much more information!
...finally culminating with:
SCHUMER UNVEILS BIPARTISAN BILL TO STOP SALE OF CELL PHONE CALL LOGS TO PROTECT PRIVACY OF MILLIONS OF CELL PHONE USERS
(more info at GovTrack S. 2178: Consumer Telephone Records Protection Act of 2006)
The following actions will be violations of federal law under Schumer's new bill to obtain someone's phone records by:
1. Making false or fraudulent statements or representations to an employee of a telephone service provider;
2. Making such statements to a customer of a telephone service provider;
3. Accessing a customer account on the Internet without the customer's authorization;
4. Providing false documentation to a telephone service provider knowing that the document is false;
"We should protect your phone information and call logs the same way we protect your financial information or even medical records. Very personal information can be gleaned from our telephone records and criminals who steal this information should be punished," Schumer concluded.
While THIS bill languishes in committee, Law Enforcement thinks buying phone records from brokers is an easy way to track down criminals (and terrists, too?)
AP: Police got phone data from brokers
By TED BRIDIS and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers Tue Jun 20, 2006
WASHINGTON - Numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies have bypassed subpoenas and warrants designed to protect civil liberties and gathered Americans' personal telephone records from private-sector data brokers.
These brokers, many of whom advertise aggressively on the Internet, have gotten into customer accounts online, tricked phone companies into revealing information and even acknowledged that their practices violate laws, according to documents gathered by congressional investigators and provided to The Associated Press.
~snip~
Congressional investigators estimated the U.S. government spent $30 million last year buying personal data from private brokers. But that number likely understates the breadth of transactions, since brokers said they rarely charge law enforcement agencies any price.
PDJ said it always provided help to police for free. "Agencies from all across the country took advantage of it," said PDJ's lawyer, Larry Slade of Los Angeles.
~sniip~
The police agencies told AP they used the data brokers because it was quicker and easier than subpoenas, and their lawyers believe their actions were lawful.
THEIR LAWYERS BELIEVE THEIR ACTIONS WERE LAWFUL?
WHAT "LAW" SCHOOL DID "THEY" GO TO?
Clark issued this on Thursday:
More Government Spying?
Submitted by Wes Clark on June 22, 2006
Unscrupulous data vendors are bad enough. But the government using these brokers to access our personal telephone records without getting necessary warrants? Government can't make laws and then break them.
That constitutes a real abuse of power, and it's illegal.
~snip~
Every American should be outraged. If governmental agencies need this data for their law enforcement efforts, there is a process to obtain these records. It's the U.S. court system. And by patronizing these companies, the government is not only condoning but encouraging illegal behavior.
Congress can't let the Bush Administration abuse the constitutional rights of American citizens.
It is time for Congress to fulfill its constitutional role as a co-equal branch of government and
tell the Bush Administration, "Enough is Enough!"
EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD BE OUTRAGED!!!
Tell the Bush Administration to respect our privacy!
Contact your Senators today!
imbillorightsmanandiapprovethismessage
RELATED kos DIARIES (from Diary Rescue by SusanG Fri Jun 23, 2006):
Are Data Thefts Motivated by Government Data Mining?
by vancookie
First phones, now banks! They're spying on us all
by goverup1