[privacy] USA Today partially backtracks from its NSA snooping story

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () bsf-llc com>]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-30-nsa_x.htm

A NOTE TO OUR READERS 
 
On May 11, USA TODAY reported that the National Security Agency, with the
cooperation of several of America's leading telecommunications companies,
had compiled a database of domestic phone call records in an effort to
monitor terrorist activity. 

Several days later, BellSouth and Verizon specifically denied that they were
among the companies that had contracted with the NSA to provide bulk calling
records. 

The denial was unexpected. USA TODAY had spoken with BellSouth and Verizon
for several weeks about the substance of the report. The day before the
article was published, the reporter read the sections of the article
concerning BellSouth and Verizon to representatives of the companies and
asked for a denial before publication.

At the time, BellSouth did not deny participation in the program, but it
issued a statement saying the company "does not provide any confidential
customer information to the NSA or any government agency without proper
legal authority." Verizon said that it would not comment on national
security matters and that it acts "in full compliance with the law" and with
respect for customers' privacy.

On May 15, BellSouth said it could not categorically deny participation in
the program until it had conducted a detailed investigation. BellSouth said
that internal review concluded that the company did not contract with the
NSA or turn over calling records. 

USA TODAY continued to pursue details of the database, speaking with dozens
of sources in the telecommunications, intelligence and legislative
communities, including interviews with members of Congress who have been
briefed by senior intelligence officials on the domestic calls program. 

In the adjoining article, USA TODAY reports that five members of the
congressional intelligence committees said they had been told in secret
briefings that BellSouth did not turn over call records to the NSA, three
lawmakers said they had been told that Verizon had not participated in the
NSA database, and four said that Verizon's subsidiary MCI did turn over
records to the NSA.

USA TODAY also spoke again with the sources who had originally provided
information about the scope and contents of the domestic calls database. All
said the published report accurately reflected their knowledge and
understanding of the NSA program, but none could document a contractual
relationship between BellSouth or Verizon and the NSA, or that the companies
turned over bulk calling records to the NSA.

Based on its reporting after the May 11 article, USA TODAY has now concluded
that while the NSA has built a massive domestic calls record database
involving the domestic call records of telecommunications companies, the
newspaper cannot confirm that BellSouth or Verizon contracted with the NSA
to provide bulk calling records to that database.

USA TODAY will continue to report on the contents and scope of the database
as part of its ongoing coverage of national security and domestic
surveillance. 
 

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