Verizon Has Violated Our Privacy

The communications industry has let consumers down in so many ways. I
used to work for a company that performed consultanting services for
the telephone industry, and remember the halcyon days when prices were
supposed to go down, cs would go up, etc. etc. It's been one
disappointment after another.

First it started out with the "little" things. Mergers and
acquisitions. Comsumers barely noticed. Then rates started climbing
for everything, especially cellular services, which are now becoming
prohibitively expensive, cumbersome, and decreasingly transparent.

Then services disappeared or suddenly were switched to paid without
the slightest noticed. Remember the days of free directory assistance.
No? Not surprised. Fortunately a few innovators have stepped into that
market. Check out 1-800-free411 if you're want to hit them where it
hurts most---the bottomline.

But now it's gotten personal, as in supplying Big Brother with
consumer's private information. Where this is going, no one really
knows. I feel I'm walking around this a timebomb in my pocket.

Actually the mechanism that is being used by the current
administration was put into operation in the early 1990s.

The only thing new here is that they are admitting to doing a database
search of records, rather than admitting to actually monitoring the
communication.

To believe that the infrastructure to monitor or track was invented
and first implemented by the current administration is not well
thought out. Ask the media why this hasn't been reported before; and
there you will find the real story to be concerned about.

I sometimes have to use a jack to change a tire, but that doesn't mean
I invented the jack, or than I am responsible for murders committed
with a jack hanfdle.

Do a search on:

ECPA
Carnivore
Eschelon

Talk to you favorite telephone repair person concerning digital slics
in your neighborhood and their capabilities.

This is a part of the Hegalian principle (Thesis, Synthesis,
Antithesis). This is a process of convincing the public that they
need to sacrifice liberty in exchange for security. It is nothing
new, and certainly wasn't discovered, or first used by Carl Rove.

It is controversial to many that Verizon would actually confirm
cooperation with the NSA, but it is ill-informed to believe that the
process by which this cooperation was fostered was created overnight;
or even within the span of the current administration.

The real problem is that it takes a contraversal press release to wake
up the public to the point of becoming aware of government and
governance.

This issue once again proves "There is no freedom without
responsibility".

Maybe you have something to hide or you have had calls overseas. The
average american would rather protect there homeland and lifes than
worry about if the government is looking at who they call. I think
that you need to get your facts right first. They don't provide all
records to the government. only those that meet a possible threat to
national safety. This is the most selfish thing that I have hear and
the US needs to kick ass then we will and I think it has worked so far
so if you don't like it move to another contry... Oh other contries
do it too and more offen to every thing.

It is stupid that some of the people comming over to live in America
are risking death to make it over here and we have some in the us just
looking for a excuss to cause a issue.

Right to privacy was not guarenteed by the US Constitution, nor the
Bill of Rights.

Then again, teh Founding Fathers may not have put that in because they
relied on the INTEGRITY of our elected officials...well, thats sorely
lacking today.

I don't believe for a SECOND that they really care to spy on terrorist
and catch them. If they were so concerned about terrorists and the
safety of the American people, they would CLOSE THE BORDERS!!!!!!
Until that is done and the illegals removed, I don't buy a thing on
the 'war on terror'.

Shame on you Mr. Bush!

BTW... I'm a very conservative person who've you've turned your back
on!

hey, if they really want to listen to me call my fiancee and yell at
him for being 30 minutes late picking me up from work, they are more
than welcome to. maybe then they can come and talk some sense into
him....

Heck, the NSA is welcome to my phone records. Let's see, there's
calls to the terrorist cell in California, and then there's calls to
and from my sister-in-law in Dayton (hey, they can HAVE
her...please...*TAKE HER*...), and ooo! the local pizza shop, Dough
Boys, and Great Lakes Education because gawd knows if there's a threat
to Homeland Security, it's those morons. They make me want to go
postal at least once a month...

Not to say that the phone companies should be releasing this
information without at least informing us. But if you're not doing
anything illegal, it shouldn't be too big a deal. And besides, if
dang near all of them are doing it, how can you boycott? It's not
like you can pick up a rock in the back yard and hook into their
network, right?

If it is to catch bad guys. Go for it.. If they really want to hear me
talking about how my daughter just spit up on my new shirt..whatever.
There are so many people in the united states with cell phones I dont
think that a tax paying individual really needs to worry about this.

I think I'll return to Verizon for just that reason. I have no
complaints with anyone listening on the telephone line if it'll help
catch a couple of terrorists.

I have read most of the comments to this letter and am grateful to
everyone who responded. I am a simple person with very mixed feelings
about this issue, so reading all of these opinions was very
enlightening and also informative.

I think my husband and I first started having this discusssion
sometime after 9/11. He has very strong feelings about privacy, and
although I completely understand his concerns, I tend to feel that
safety should be a priority. The world is a crazy place now, and I am
honestly starting to think I no longer know the difference between
right and wrong. The only thing I am still certain of, however, is
that breaking the law is wrong. I am one who doesn't mind giving up
some privacy if it means saving a life, but if it can't be done
legally, then the country will change in a lot more ways than
terrorists could ever accomplish.

This is Verizon's official statement. I thought it should be on here.

News Release

Verizon Issues Statement on NSA and Privacy Protection

May 12, 2006

Media contact:
Peter Thonis, 212-395-2355

NEW YORK -- Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) today issued the
following statement:

The President has referred to an NSA program, which he authorized,
directed against al-Qaeda. Because that program is highly classified,
Verizon cannot comment on that program, nor can we confirm or deny
whether we have had any relationship to it.

Having said that, there have been factual errors in press coverage
about the way Verizon handles customer information in general. Verizon
puts the interests of our customers first and has a longstanding
commitment to vigorously safeguard our customers' privacy -- a
commitment we've highlighted in our privacy principles, which are
available at www.verizon.com/privacy.

Verizon will provide customer information to a government agency only
where authorized by law for appropriately-defined and focused
purposes. When information is provided, Verizon seeks to ensure it is
properly used for that purpose and is subject to appropriate
safeguards against improper use. Verizon does not, and will 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.

In January 2006, Verizon acquired MCI, and we are ensuring that
Verizon's policies are implemented at that entity and that all its
activities fully comply with law.

Verizon hopes that the Administration and the Congress can come
together and agree on a process in an appropriate setting, and with
safeguards for protecting classified information, to examine any
issues that have been raised about the program. Verizon is fully
prepared to participate in such a process.

####

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Ben Franklin

While I have been a supporter of much of what the administration is
doing, I do not believe the tapping of all phones to be legal. I
would like to add my voice in opposition of this act.

How dare the cops to patrol the very street I live on! They're
invading my privacy! They had the invasive audacity to drive down the
very street I live on, claiming to be looking for bad guys! Hey you
guys, no bad guys live here!! Just plain folks! Hey....wait a
minute...maybe because their cruising for bad guys is the reason there
are no bad guys here and the neighborhood is peaceful???? Hmmmmmm...We
appreciate our "freedoms" but tend handcuff the very people trying to
preserve them to the point that we will never have them again. Yes we
have to be vigilent but it always seems that the ones that complain
most about "privacy rights" are the ones with the most to hide (your
neighbor with your 9-year-old daughter perhaps....).

I have never heard or read one good reason or excuse for the mockery
the current administration is making of this country. I've heard a
buttload of foul, transparent, wimpy, imbesilic reasons, but never one
good reason.

I actually feel more threatened by my own government then I do about
their nebulous accusations of will o' the wisp terrorists that somehow
never materialize, but sure do get a lot of air time.

Call me paranoid, but I can't help but think that the terrorist
threats that King George keeps harping on make for good distractions
whenever someone starts looking too closely at the actions of his
administration.

One of the news guys/reporters on ABC World News Tonight was told by a
federal investigator that personal phone lines of news journalists are
among those being investigated, in order to find out who in the
government is leaking stories to the press.

Okay, maybe NOW people will take this seriously.

If I can add yet another post to this subject, here's something I
forgot to mention earlier.

Mel, I applaud you for writing this letter, as it needed to be said,
but if you're really that interested in maintaining your privacy,
posting your full name on your letter twice probably wasn't the
greatest idea.

When is it okay for a phone compnay to share my phone bill? Well i
don't really care. They get a bunch of numbers....and then what
happens after that....I say we all just watch out for each other. We
call the oinvasion of privacy a certain term.....like I got
Invaded....but do you know anyone that was invaded yet?
And what happnes when you do get invaded....do they ruin your credit?
Doi they spread rumors....?
I haven't been invaded yet but if they build a cellblock for Invaded
indidulas because they were talking to people with abdullah sounding
names we should worry.

Amazing how ignorant people are and how little they really know.

Verizon is turning over records to the government as is other phone
companies except QWest who turns over your number to telemarketers for
money but does not turn them over to the government.

As far as the idiotic statement about other countries not having
records of phone calls that have been hit. You have got to be the
world's most ignorant people. Security in Israel for example is
crazy.

THEY ARE NOT TURNING OVER RECORDED CALLS.

Being not a terrorist I am not worried.

THINK FOR YOURSELF DON'T LET CNN THINK FOR YOU.

And why wasn't a letter sent to the White House when Clinton was doing
the same thing?

What happened to our freedom in this country? We are not the first
country to have a terrorist attack - but we seem to be the only
country that wants to invade people's privacy.

What next . . .is the government going to tell me who I can have sex
with in the privacy of my own home . . .oh never mind, they already
do.

Another reason I'm glad to be Canadian?

I really don't care. I have nothing to hide. The government has to
do what they have to to protect this country. If something were to
happen regarding terrorist and it was related to a phone call then the
American public would be upset cause the government didn't do
anything. You can't please everyone. Someone will be upset no matter
what you do. This is nothing compared to what the government can and
has done in the past. They have satellites that can watch you in your
bathroom, in your own home. The government can do more damage than to
find out who you are calling on the phone.

It's funny how much people are willing to give up in exchange for
feeling safe.

The thing about this, though, is that the government spying on my
phone calls doesn't make me feel the least bit more safe than I did
before. If anything, it makes me feel even less safe, because now, in
addition to worrying about terrorists, I also have to worry about my
own government progressively stripping away my civil liberties in
exchange for my supposed protection.

Maybe I'm just being greedy, but I don't want to have to choose
between being safe and being free. I shouldn't have to. But if I do
have to choose, I'll take my freedom any day of the week. In the end,
it's worth more to me.

PFB says that they are going to "email this whole link to the White
House."

Forgive me for being cynical, but I don't think the WH is going to
care about getting an e-mail with a link to PFB. I'm pretty sure that
they will not even bother to click on the link.

If this is something you care about (either way), posting here and
hoping that the WH will care about a link is not the best way to go.
For something like this, a personal letter, phone call, or visit to
your Senator or Representative is going to have a bigger impact.

Sorry, PFB. You're wonderful for some things. But I'm not convinced
that the WH listens much to e-mailed links.

My guess is that they didn't have a choice.

Just because someone is opposed to having the government listen in on
their phone calls doesn't mean they are a terrorist.

The issue here is NOT listening. That is a separate issue. The NSA is
just tracking PHONE NUMBERS called by using software to pick up on
patterns where a series of calls back and forth all begin in one
place, go through several or many numbers to the last one, then come
back the same way to the originating number. That can indicate efforts
to conceal communication, a method used by criminals and terrorists.