Government Gathers Phone Records of Verizon Customers
At the request of the FBI, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ordered a Verizon subsidiary to surrender the telephone records of its U.S. business customers to the National Security Agency for at least a three month period beginning last April 25.
The startling disclosure was reported last night by Glenn Greenwald of the Guardian. A copy of the Top Secret FISC order itself was also posted online by the Guardian.
Several features of the operation are problematic, to say the least. The FISC order is sweeping in scope, encompassing “all” call metadata (telephone numbers of callers and recipients, time, duration and more, though not the substantive contents of any conversation). It is unfocused on any designated target of investigation. It is prospective, requiring reporting of future telephone calls that have not yet taken place. And as such, it would seem to exceed any reasonable presumption of what the consent of the governed would allow.
At first glance, this appears to be a massive overreach by the government, as well as a massive failure of congressional oversight and judicial review to curb the Administration’s excess. (NYT, WP, WSJ)
China is NOT a nuclear “peer” of the United States, as some contend.
China’s total number of approximately 600 warheads constitutes only a small portion of the United States’ estimated stockpile of 3,700 warheads.
The Federation of American Scientists strongly supports the Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act of 2025.
The Federation of American Scientists strongly supports the Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act of 2025.
In an era of such massive sweeps upending federal programs, increased transparency is even more important to provide the public with the knowledge necessary to respond and hold the government accountable.