The NSA has been collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers? Shocker! Is this really a surprise anyone? Privacy went out the window the moment The Patriot Act was signed into law. The Guardian somehow got a hold of a top secret court order obtained by the National Security Agency. The order gave the NSA the power get most of your information. It has been collecting call records of millions of Verizon subscribers in the U.S. since April 25th. The order was passed under the Obama administration. The same administration that said the government would be more transparent. .
The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk – regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.
Under the terms of the blanket order, the numbers of both parties on a call are handed over, as is location data, call duration, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all calls. The contents of the conversation itself are not covered.
WASHINGTON (AP) _ House intel chairman says domestic terror attack thwarted because of phone records collection. #NSA
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) June 6, 2013
The act required Verizon to handover records for all local as well as international calls to the NSA on an “ongoing, daily” basis till July 19th, for surveillance. Verizon and the NSA, as expected has refused to comment. Just in case you were wondering the NSA an arrangements with all the major carriers in the U.S. Verizon is just the scapegoat that got put out there. Here’s the court order for your viewing discus.