FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 12, 2006
Contact: Shenna Bellows, MCLU, 207-774-5444

Mainers File NSA Spying Complaint to PUC

Portland:  Revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting data on the domestic phone calls of innocent Americans came two days after a complaint was filed with the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) demanding an investigation into whether the Verizon telecommunications company has allowed NSA to spy on its customers in Maine.

“Verizon’s refusal to confirm or deny their participation in this illegal wiretapping program is disturbing,” said James Cowie, MCLU member and lead complainant in Docket No. 2006-274.  “Verizon’s Maine customers have every reason to be concerned about this potential breach of our privacy.”

Following Maine guidelines for complaints directed toward a utility, the Maine Civil Liberties Union joined James Cowie in organizing a “10 customer complaint” with the PUC.  The complaint, which calls on the commission to investigate whether Verizon has allowed the NSA unrestricted access to customer e-mail and phone communications, was filed earlier this week.  The complaint questions whether circuits have been installed in any Verizon facilities within Maine to facilitate NSA surveillance and whether the records of Mainers have been included in any data mining samples provided to the NSA. 
 
“Monitoring the e-mail and phone calls of millions of innocent Americans does not make us safer, but it does make us less free,” said Shenna Bellows, Executive Director of the MCLU.   “The Administration and now apparently the phone companies have violated the Constitution and the public trust in spying on so many Americans without probable cause.”

News reports indicate that at least three companies- Verizon, BellSouth, and AT&T- have complied with requests from the NSA to turn over the calling records of millions of customers across the nation.  The complaint filed earlier this week seeks to uncover the extent to which Verizon has allowed spying in Maine.  Original requests to Verizon for that information were met with no comment, but the complaint filed with the PUC will give Verizon until May 19 to disclose whether it provided the government access to the calling activity of Mainers.

“Warrantless wiretapping is illegal,” said Bellows.  “No one – not the phone companies and not the President – is above the law.” 

The MCLU awaits the results of the complaint and will take action if it learns that the government has been spying on Mainers.

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