Verizon Turned Over Extensive Data to FBI Without Court Orders
Verizon provided data to federal authorities without a court order 720 times from January 2005 to September 2007 in response to requests the government designated as an emergency, the Washington Post reports. During that same period of time, Verizon provided information a total of 94,000 times. The records included Internet protocol addresses and phone data.
The FBI sought information identified the person making the call, the customer receiving the call, and the "two-generation community of interest" -- those people the customer in turn called.
Both Verizon and AT&T said "it was not their role to second-guess the legitimacy of emergency government requests," even if the government did not provide the supporting documentation.
Letters from Verizon, AT&T, and Qwest regarding the turning over of customer data was provided in a letter in response to a request from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Electronic Frontier Foundation also commented upon the transmission of customer data.