Even before the recent controversy over Google's refusal to comply with a Justice Department subpoena to
turn over search databases, I wondered how many technology companies were working secretly with the U.S. government.
Which companies, in the name of fighting terrorism (or perhaps even for other reasons), were providing data on users to the FBI or NSA, or allowing the government to monitor digital communications?
Given the controversy and smokescreen surrounding the NSA's current surveillance program, this hardly is a paranoid question. CNET tries to get some answers in an interesting, though ultimately frustrating, article
here.
CNET's Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache decided to go right to the source, asking 27 telecom and Internet companies if they had "turned over information or opened up your networks to the NSA without being compelled by law?"
Fifteen of the companies queried -- including BellSouth, ComCast and Earthlink -- indicated they have had no role in the NSA snoop program. Another dozen either didn't reply or issued vague responses that defy interpretation. Some companies apparently cited "national security" in declining to comment.
The article has lot of good legal and historical information regarding electronic eavesdropping, so is well worth a read. But to get concrete answers about the extent of corporate cooperation with the NSA, it appears we have to wait for a
lawsuit filed against AT&T by the Electronic Frontier Foundation to play out. The EFF sued the telecom in response to reports that it had allowed the NSA to view its customer records.
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