Qwest snubbed 'illegal' call for details of phone records
Qwest snubbed 'illegal' call for details of phone records
By Paul Taylor in New Yorkand Stephanie Kirchgaessnerin,Washington
Published: May 13 2006 03:00 | Last updated: May 13 2006 03:00Copyright by The Financial Times
Qwest, the US telecoms company, refused to hand over private telephone records to the government in 2001 because it believed the request was illegal, Joseph Nacchio, its former chief executive, said yesterday.
Mr Nacchio, who is currently facing insider trading charges, confirmed that the company was approached in autumn 2001 about giving the government access to private telephone records in the aftermath of September 11.
But in a statement that will add to the growing debate over the National Security Agency's efforts to identify domestic terror threats, he said he had concluded that the request was not legal, and "violated the privacy requirements of the Telecommunications Act".
Mr Nacchio was serving at the time as the chairman of the national security telecommunications advisory committee, a panel that advises on issues of national security and emergency preparedness.
His assertion followed reports that the three biggest US telecoms companies - AT&T, Verizon Communications and BellSouth - acceded to the NSA's requests and began sharing records of tens of millions of their customers' phone calls with the agency.
Verizon said yesterday that it did not "provide any government agency unfettered access to our customer records or provide information to the government under circumstances that would allow a fishing expedition".
An official at the Federal Communications Commission, the telecoms regulator, declined to comment on whether it would investigate but said an exception in the law governing telecoms operators allowed them to provide phone data "as required by law".
While all three accused carriers have declined to comment in detail on their reasons for complying, lawyers said they would have had to balance the NSA request with FCC rules barring unauthorised releases of customer information - rules the carriers insist they did not break.
That view is due to be tested in court next week by a would-be class-action suit originally filed in January against AT&T, the biggest US telecoms group, by the California-based Electronics Frontier Foundation.
The suit, based in part on the claims of a retired AT&T engineer, alleges AT&T opened its key facilities and databases to direct access by the NSA. It claims AT&T "has given the government unfettered access to its over-300 terabyte 'Daytona' database of caller information - one of the largest databases in the world".
Two lawyers filed a similar suit yesterday against Verizon, seeking up to $5bn.
By Paul Taylor in New Yorkand Stephanie Kirchgaessnerin,Washington
Published: May 13 2006 03:00 | Last updated: May 13 2006 03:00Copyright by The Financial Times
Qwest, the US telecoms company, refused to hand over private telephone records to the government in 2001 because it believed the request was illegal, Joseph Nacchio, its former chief executive, said yesterday.
Mr Nacchio, who is currently facing insider trading charges, confirmed that the company was approached in autumn 2001 about giving the government access to private telephone records in the aftermath of September 11.
But in a statement that will add to the growing debate over the National Security Agency's efforts to identify domestic terror threats, he said he had concluded that the request was not legal, and "violated the privacy requirements of the Telecommunications Act".
Mr Nacchio was serving at the time as the chairman of the national security telecommunications advisory committee, a panel that advises on issues of national security and emergency preparedness.
His assertion followed reports that the three biggest US telecoms companies - AT&T, Verizon Communications and BellSouth - acceded to the NSA's requests and began sharing records of tens of millions of their customers' phone calls with the agency.
Verizon said yesterday that it did not "provide any government agency unfettered access to our customer records or provide information to the government under circumstances that would allow a fishing expedition".
An official at the Federal Communications Commission, the telecoms regulator, declined to comment on whether it would investigate but said an exception in the law governing telecoms operators allowed them to provide phone data "as required by law".
While all three accused carriers have declined to comment in detail on their reasons for complying, lawyers said they would have had to balance the NSA request with FCC rules barring unauthorised releases of customer information - rules the carriers insist they did not break.
That view is due to be tested in court next week by a would-be class-action suit originally filed in January against AT&T, the biggest US telecoms group, by the California-based Electronics Frontier Foundation.
The suit, based in part on the claims of a retired AT&T engineer, alleges AT&T opened its key facilities and databases to direct access by the NSA. It claims AT&T "has given the government unfettered access to its over-300 terabyte 'Daytona' database of caller information - one of the largest databases in the world".
Two lawyers filed a similar suit yesterday against Verizon, seeking up to $5bn.
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