Fergie's Tech Blog

FBI Seeks To Pay Telecoms For Data Records

Ellen Nakashima writes in The Washington Post:

The FBI wants to pay the major telecommunications companies to retain their customers' Internet and phone call information for at least two years for the agency's use in counterterrorism investigations and is asking Congress for $5 million a year to defray the cost, according to FBI officials and budget documents.

The FBI would not have direct access to the records. It would need to present a subpoena or an administrative warrant, known as a national security letter, to obtain the information that the companies would keep in a database, officials said.

More here.

Note: First reported on July 18th on Threat Level here, and ACLU statement here.

posted by Fergie @ 7/24/2007 10:16:00 PM