According to a report in the UK-based newspaper the Guardian, the U.S. government has required Verizon to turn over its customers phone records on an “ongoing, daily basis.” Though the content of actual phone calls were not turned over as part of the order, the National Security Agency has received data about millions of customers’ personal calls since April. The documents also reportedly contain a gag order preventing Verizon from discussing the data handover.
Former Vice President Al Gore tweeted, “In the digital era, privacy must be a priority. Is it just me, or is secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous?” The Center for Constitutional Rights said that the NSA order is especially concerning because “it requires no level of suspicion and applies to all Verizon subscribers anywhere in the U.S.” The FBI did not respond to CNN’s interview request, and the NSA said it would try to issue a statement “as soon as we can” …
