Fergie's Tech Blog

The Snooping Goes Beyond Phone Calls: NeuStar on the Defensive

Via Businessweek Online.

Based in Sterling, Va., NeuStar has developed a lucrative niche in the routing of millions of phone calls a day from one carrier to the next. "Nearly every telephone call placed is routed using NeuStar's system, and every telecommunications service provider is one of NeuStar's customers," the company's Web site states. NeuStar doesn't keep records of the calls it handles, a spokeswoman says.

Now NeuStar is seeking to profit from increased post-September 11 government pressure on telecoms to turn over data. Last year it acquired Fiducianet Inc., which helps phone company clients comply with "subpoenas, court orders, and law enforcement agency requests under electronic surveillance laws," according to a February, 2005, NeuStar press release. NeuStar says this part of its business accounts for less than 1% of total revenue. The company went public last June and reported 2005 revenue of $242.5 million.

NeuStar also provides services to federal agencies, but CEO Jeff Ganek says it hasn't done so for the NSA. The company has "absolutely nothing to do with any of the surveillance that's currently being discussed on Capitol Hill," Ganek stresses.

posted by Fergie @ 5/23/2006 06:13:00 AM