ALL telephone companies supply US Law Enforcement agencies with records of calls and have had for years, long before 9/11.
The US Supreme Court has ruled in the past that these Third Party records are NOT protected and do not enjoy any privacy. Watch any police drama on television and it is Standard Procedure to retreive telephone logs absent a Warrant.
While the numbers called and received are logged, so the provider can bill for services, there is NO POSSIBLE WAY they can record the substance of the conversations; the band width required would be astronomical.
Knowing who is calling and being called has helped solve many crimes and will continue to do so. If Law Enforcement has a list of suspect numbers that show up in a log I feel they should have access to that information like they have for years.
As to the NSA evesdropping, the truth is that William Jefferson Clinton used Echelon for domestic surveillance during his tenure without any Congressional support nor active terrorist threat, so be careful what stones you throw.
BTW, as a Canadian I haved no poitical bent when it comes to the US.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Michael S @ May 17th 2006 7:28AM
ALL telephone companies supply US Law Enforcement agencies with records of calls and have had for years, long before 9/11.
The US Supreme Court has ruled in the past that these Third Party records are NOT protected and do not enjoy any privacy. Watch any police drama on television and it is Standard Procedure to retreive telephone logs absent a Warrant.
While the numbers called and received are logged, so the provider can bill for services, there is NO POSSIBLE WAY they can record the substance of the conversations; the band width required would be astronomical.
Knowing who is calling and being called has helped solve many crimes and will continue to do so. If Law Enforcement has a list of suspect numbers that show up in a log I feel they should have access to that information like they have for years.
As to the NSA evesdropping, the truth is that William Jefferson Clinton used Echelon for domestic surveillance during his tenure without any Congressional support nor active terrorist threat, so be careful what stones you throw.
BTW, as a Canadian I haved no poitical bent when it comes to the US.