A little straight talk, please, on the NSA scandal

[struggle4progress]

In Their opinion
By Anthony D. Romero
Special to Knight Ridder/Tribune
05-22-2006

.. Consider, for instance, the recent statement from Verizon saying that it had not provided local phone records to the NSA. The Verizon statement — released this week after almost five days of public furor — failed to address whether long-distance phone records had been provided by its brand-new subsidiary, MCI. Earlier this week, Bell South reassured its customers that it had not turned over data on local calls without warrants — begging the question of whether there was or wasn’t a warrant or whether one of its former subsidiaries had given private information to the NSA.

The assumed good cop in all this is Qwest — which reportedly refused to turn over documents in 2002 to the NSA. But one would have thought that Qwest — having done the right thing in standing up for the privacy of its customers and demanded a good-old fashioned warrant — would be willing to stand up for the applause in this bizarre spy story. Yet, it has been strangely silent — refusing even to answer basic questions about whether it is or is not part of the NSA program at this moment. Its silence invites speculation over whether it refused the Bush administration in 2002, and then rolled over and provided that same information under new corporate leadership.

The only company that seems to have the courage of its convictions is AT&T — except it made the wrong decision. If one believes the USA Today story, AT&T provided millions of computer records on its telephone customers without a warrant, and it has steadfastly refused to answer any questions.

Finally, don’t forget the culpably taciturn Sprint, which wasn’t named in any of the stories, has said nothing of substance to any of its customers or the press, and is obviously trying to ride out this maelstrom. So much for bold, straight-talking corporate leaders who believe in engaging and maintaining trust among consumers ..

http://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/2006/as-editorials-0522-0-6e21v5649.htm