We know, you probably forgot that a certain smartphone from General Dynamics was even in the running for NSA approval earlier this year, but lo and behold, the Q4 estimate was actually met and the coveted thumbs-up was given to the (totally unfashionable) Sectera Edge. The National Security Agency has reportedly "awarded a contract to General Dynamics C4 Systems enabling military and government users to order" the mobile, and just in case you weren't aware of how lucrative an indefinite delivery / indefinite quantity agreement could be, this particular one has a "potential value of $300 million over five years." Folks that end up with one of these things will have handheld access to the US government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) and Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet), but oddly enough, we're not told whether top secret agencies will be kosher with third-party applications.

[Via CNET]

While T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless have both stated all along that they aren't supplying phone records to the NSA, it took a $50 billion lawsuit to pull Verizon (the landline provider) out of the woodwork. The suit, which was filed last Friday, is claiming $1000 per customer for turning over phone records, as per the Telecommunications Act of 1934. Its allegations are based on a USA Today story that ran on Thursday and which claimed that BellSouth, AT&T and Verizon had been forking over records of millions of phone calls to the government ever since 9/11. Now Verizon and BellSouth have gone on record to state that they have done no such thing, and that the NSA hasn't even requested such records. This calls into questions the USA Today piece, which cited anonymous sources, and (for now at least) should hopefully help those customers sleep a little bit sounder knowing that the NSA probably doesn't have proof of how infrequently they call their mothers. Or do they?

Read - Verizon hit with $50 billion suit
Read - Verizon denies NSA data sharing