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AP: Police got phone data from brokers
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| Contributor | RP |
| Last Edited | RP Jun 20, 2006 12:36pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Website - Yahoo News |
| News Date | Tuesday, June 20, 2006 11:40:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies have bypassed subpoenas and warrants designed to protect civil liberties and gathered Americans' personal telephone records from private-sector data brokers.
These brokers, many of whom advertise aggressively on the Internet, have gotten into customer accounts online, tricked phone companies into revealing information and even acknowledged that their practices violate laws, according to documents gathered by congressional investigators and provided to The Associated Press.
The law enforcement agencies include offices in the Homeland Security Department and Justice Department — including the FBI and U.S. Marshal's Service — and municipal police departments in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Utah. Experts believe hundreds of other departments frequently use such services.
Congressional investigators estimated the U.S. government spent $30 million last year buying personal data from private brokers. But that number likely understates the breadth of transactions, since brokers said they rarely charge law enforcement agencies any price.
The congressman said laws on the subject are vague: "There's a good chance there are some laws being broken, but it's not really clear precisely which laws." |
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