Understanding Telecom Data Privacy Amid NSA Requests and Customer Rights

Imagine being the head of a major telecommunications company in the United States. You and your lawyers have developed a carefully worded privacy policy to conform with the law. In it you tell your customers that you do not share information about your customers' use of your services except for particular business purposes, and to ensure that the calls get through. You also tell your customers that you, of course, give information in response to lawful subpoenas or lawful mandates of law enforcement agencies. And that's about it.

One day, you receive a visit from agents of the National Security Agency, who make a formal "request" that you, as a patriotic American company, turn over records of telephone calls made by millions of customers in the interests of "national security." If you don't do it, the agent reminds you, you probably wont get those lucrative government contracts, and you certainly wont get any work with any classified government agencies. If you do it, you may open yourself up to class action litigation. What do you do?

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