Leslie Cauley of USA Today is reporting that the National Security Agency is collecting the domestic and international phone call records of most Americans. AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth are voluntary participants in the program and are federally compensated for surrendering the call records of ordinary Americans, even if those not suspected of any crime. At this point, Qwest is refusing to turn over call records to the NSA without a court order.
The NSA claims to want the information to build a database that will allow them to perform highly detailed analyses of America’s calling habits. The NSA contends that the measure is to increase national security.
Unless you are a Qwest customer, the NSA probably knows the time and date of every phone call you have made from your home, cell phone, office, etc. for the last few years. They also know the number you called and the number you called from. With that information, a simple query of public records can reveal your name and address as well as the name and address of the person you called.
You can read the entire article here.
