MCLU Applauds Public Advocate Recommendations

Fairpoint acquisition should include safeguards for privacy case

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 12, 2007

Portland- The Maine Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Public Advocate for considering the privacy of Maine phone customers in its recommendations on the proposed Fairpoint acquisition of Verizon-Maine.  In a list of conditions on the proposed acquisition of Verizon-Maine’s landlines, the Public Advocate recommended that “the Commission should retain jurisdiction over Verizon-Maine for the purpose of completing its investigation and applying any remedy, in connection with the Cowie complaint, at such time that the case is remanded to the Commission or the stay of the federal district is lifted.” 

“The phone customers of Maine have been waiting for a year and a half to find out if their records were handed over to the government without their knowledge, and now is no time to throw their complaint out the window,” said Shenna Bellows, Executive Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.  “The state must be committed to protecting the privacy of Mainers no matter who owns the phone lines.”

In May 2006, Douglas Cowie and 22 other Maine privacy activists initiated a customer complaint urging the PUC to investigate whether Verizon handed over customer records to the National Security Agency or gave the NSA access to their phone equipment.  The United States Department of Justice responded by suing the PUC to prevent it from conducting an investigation.  The subsequent case, United States v. Adams et al, was transferred to California, and in July of this year the U.S. District Court in California denied the United States’ request to enjoin the Maine PUC from investigating privacy violations by Maine phone companies. 

“Verizon’s customers still have questions about whether their privacy rights were violated, and the Public Utilities Commission should maintain the possibility of future action in this state,” said Bellows.  “A business deal should never trump the Fourth Amendment.”

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