The revelation that several telecommunications carriers are complicit in the NSA’s once-secret program, raises the question as to whether these carriers are in violation of Section 222 of the Communications Act and the Commission’s regulations implementing that section. As you know, one of the principal purposes of Section 222 is to safeguard the privacy of telecommunications consumers. I am aware of no exception in that statute or in the Commission’s regulations for ‘intelligence gathering purposes,’ or any other similar purpose, that would permit the wholesale disclosure of consumer records to any entity.
For a copy of the letter sent to Chairman Kevin Martin of the Federal Communications Commission, check out http://markey.house.gov/