Verizon Opposes Mandate on Holding NSA Phone Records

[Purveyor]

By Chris Strohm and Angela Greiling Keane Mar 27, 2014 4:11 PM ET

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) said U.S. phone companies shouldn’t be required to change the format or amount of time they hold phone records under President Barack Obama’s plan to alter a spy program.

Obama is seeking legislation that would direct Verizon, AT&T Inc. (T) and other carriers to search their records and provide results in a timely and technologically compatible format to the government. The National Security Agency currently collects and holds the records, which include numbers dialed and call durations without content of conversations.

Companies should not be required to store data for longer than they already do or in different formats, Randal Milch, New York-based Verizon’s general counsel and executive vice president for public policy, said in a statement today.

“If Verizon receives a valid request for business records, we will respond in a timely way, but companies should not be required to create, analyze or retain records for reasons other than business purposes,” he said. Verizon supports ending the NSA’s bulk data-collection program and “it is critical to get the details of this important effort right,” he said.

The move to end the NSA’s bulk-phone records collection program is one the most tangible responses to a domestic and international backlash over the extent of U.S. spy programs exposed since June by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. It potentially pits the Obama administration against some lawmakers and U.S. carriers over how best to reshape the program.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-27/obama-nsa-plan-requires-court-ok-for-phone-data-access.html

[GeorgeGist]

1. They need to find religion.