Sen. Ron Wyden sent a letter to his fellow Senators the other day, spilling the tea that three big U.S. cellphone carriers dropped the ball on notifying lawmakers about government surveillance requests. That’s a big no-no, considering they were supposed to do exactly that according to their contracts. The companies in the hot seat are AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, who apparently forgot to shoot a quick email to Senators when Uncle Sam came knocking for their phone records. But don’t worry, they swear they’re on it now.
The bombshell news was first spilled by Politico, who got the scoop on Wyden’s letter outing the sneaky behavior of these phone giants. It all comes on the heels of a report from the Inspector General last year, which spilled the beans on the Trump administration’s secret snooping on the calls and texts of dozens of congressional staffers and even a couple of House lawmakers. They even slapped gag orders on the phone companies involved to keep things hush-hush. The secret surveillance was finally revealed in 2021, shining a light on the shady business.
Wyden didn’t hold back in his fiery letter, warning about the dangers of government surveillance on the Senate’s independence and the sacred principle of separation of powers. He’s not messing around when he says that if officials can quietly snatch up Senators’ location data or call history, it’s pretty much game over for carrying out their constitutional duties. It’s a real nail-biter, folks.
In a shocking twist, AT&T’s spokesperson Alex Byers piped up to say they’re totally following the rules when it comes to the Senate’s Sergeant at Arms. They swear they haven’t received any legal demands about Senate offices since they signed the new contract last summer. But when pressed about demands before that, they went radio silent. Hmm, sounds a bit fishy, doesn’t it?
Meanwhile, Verizon and T-Mobile are playing hard to get, ducking out of commenting on the situation. Wyden also called out Google Fi, US Mobile, and Cape, praising them for being the good guys with policies to notify all customers about government requests when they’re allowed. US Mobile even hopped on board after a little nudge from Wyden’s crew. It’s like a game of cat and mouse out here in the wild world of telecom.
As Wyden points out, the Senate got wise in 2020 and put some protections in place for Senate data held by third-party companies. The Sergeant at Arms got with the program and updated their contracts to make sure carriers spill the beans about surveillance requests. But surprise, surprise — Wyden’s team found out that these crucial notifications were MIA. Oops.
So, what’s the moral of the story here? If you’re a Senator or a staffer, maybe it’s time to think about switching to a carrier that’s got your back. Because in the wild world of government surveillance, you never know who’s watching. Stay tuned for more twists and turns in this gripping saga.
