ACLU Urges Utilities Commission to Investigate Disclosure of Records to NSA

Speaking at its May 31 meeting in Olympia, ACLU of Washington Privacy Project Director Doug Klunder urged the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) to open an investigation into reports that telecommunication companies in Washington have unlawfully disclosed private phone records to the National Security Agency.

The UTC was responding to a May 23 request by the ACLU to investigate whether the phone companies broke federal or state laws that require a legal process or customer consent before information about their calls can be released to another party.

The commission decided to further explore the legal and administrative issues surrounding an investigation of the phone companies.

Klunder explained that an investigation of the companies' practices is necessary to protect the privacy of customers. He said such an investigation can be pursued without compromising national security.

The federal government has invoked state secrets privilege in at least one lawsuit over the NSA’s warrantless call monitoring program, and the issue was discussed as a potential hurdle to an investigation in Washington state. However, the ACLU believes the UTC does not need to examine any information relating to state secrets, but can instead limit itself to information about telephone company practices of information disclosure. Klunder pointed out that the UTC could examine the phone companies' own business records to settle the issue without using detailed classified information.

Prior to the May 31 hearing, the UTC received 103 e-mails, letters and phone calls from concerned customers, who feared that the phone companies may have violated their privacy.

Your calls, letters and e-mails can make a difference, so please let the UTC know that you value your privacy and are not willing to give it away for a false sense of security.

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