"Let the Truth Come Out." Says CCIA on Wiretap Case

File Under: News, 2007, Telecommunications, Privacy

Jun 21, 2007

BACKGROUND: The US Department of Justice has asked a federal court in San Francisco to block subpoenas concerning possible privacy violations committed by the federal government and telecommunications companies during wiretap investigations. Attorneys General from five separate states recently served the subpoenas on several telecommunications providers.

“The case being heard today in federal court has profound significance for the technology industry, the public and their relationships to the federal government,” Ed Black, President and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association said today.

“We fully support Attorneys General who demand information from telephone companies, companies that may have violated the law and their duty to their customers in processing federal wiretap requests,” Black said. “Public confidence in the privacy of lawful communications over electronic networks is essential.”

A consolidated complaint from Attorneys General in New Jersey, Missouri, Connecticut, Maine, and Vermont seeks information to determine who, if anyone, has been subject to improper electronic surveillance in their states. US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez maintains that phone companies must not respond to such requests lest they divulge information important to anti-terror efforts. State Attorneys General respond that they have a right to investigate potential wrongdoing and can do so without sacrificing national security. Federal Judge Vaughn R. Walker is hearing arguments from both side.
    
“Most informed people have little doubt that wiretaps important to national security sometime need to, and do, take place. However, the Department of Justice claims that mere confirmation that the US Government and certain telephone companies may have violated the civil liberties of others will endanger national security,” Black said.

“The more important questions are these: Are telecommunications companies, the National Security Agency or any other arm of the federal government complying with US law when they perform domestic surveillance?  Can citizens expect that communications companies will protect their privacy and rights when a government agency exceeds it legal authority? Should companies accept the role of obedient servant when police make requests, legal or not?  
“The Justice Department is trying to conceal vitally important evidence – information that may reveal wrongdoing by both the federal government and companies that have cooperated with it. We call upon companies in our industry to come clean, to unshackle themselves from a Justice Department that has frequently shown itself unworthy of benefit of the doubt.

“This matter is of real importance to the integrity of our industry,” Black said. “Neither business nor consumers will have confidence in the confidentiality of their electronic communications as long as the specter of rogue wiretaps persists.”