Verizon and AT&T comment
on ACLU privacy invasion lawsuit

By Julia Cheever, Bay City News Service

May 27, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - A spokesman for Verizon Communications Inc. said yesterday that a privacy invasion lawsuit filed against the company by the American Civil Liberties Union is "completely without merit."

Spokesman Robert Varettoni also repeated the company's previous statement that "Verizon cannot and will not confirm or deny whether it has any relationship" to a classified National Security Agency program.

The lawsuit against New York-based Verizon was filed in San Francisco Superior Court yesterday along with a similar lawsuit against AT&T Corp., based in San Antonio.

The two suits claim the telecommunications companies are violating the California constitution's guarantee of privacy as well as state law by allegedly providing the National Security Agency with calling records of millions of California customers.

AT&T issued a statement saying that "we vigorously protect our customers' privacy" but that "we can't comment on matters of national security."

The statement, provided by company spokesman Marc Bien, said, "If and when AT&T is asked by government agencies for help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions."

The two lawsuits contend the alleged transfer of calling records is illegal because it is not supported by a warrant or court order. ACLU attorney Ann Brick said, "The laws of this state guarantee every Californian a right of privacy. AT&T and Verizon have violated the privacy rights of Californians."

The lawsuits allege that in addition to violating the state constitution, the two companies' actions violate a state public utilities law that bars the release of telephone call records without a subscriber's permission.

The plaintiffs are the ACLU's Northern California, Southern California and San Diego branches and 17 California citizens, including former Republican Congressman Tom Campbell and syndicated columnist Robert Scheer.

The suits ask for an injunction barring the companies from providing calling records without a court order or warrant.

Nicole Ozer, the technology and civil liberties director for the ACLU of Northern California, said, "This is much more than data mining. This has been the systematic strip-mining of the private calls of millions of innocent Americans."

A separate lawsuit accusing AT&T of violating the U.S. Constitution and federal communications privacy laws by allegedly giving the National Security Agency access to telephone and Internet communications and records is pending in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

That lawsuit was filed by the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of four Californians.

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