Some Senate Phones Still Subject to Surveillance: Wyden
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged fellow senators Wednesday to investigate whether the phones they’re using are protected from surveillance. The major carriers have different policies, he wrote in a “dear colleague” letter.
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In 2020, Congress enacted protections “for Senate data held by third parties, after which the SAA [Sergeant at Arms] updated its contracts with the major wireless carriers to require these companies to inform the Senate when its records are demanded,” Wyden said: “However, my staff discovered that, alarmingly, these crucial notifications were not happening, likely in violation of the carriers’ contracts with the SAA, leaving the Senate vulnerable to surveillance.”
AT&T and Verizon say they will provide notice only for lines paid for by the Senate, while “T-Mobile has informed my staff that it will provide notice for Senators’ campaign or personal lines flagged as such by the SAA,” Wyden said. “Three other carriers -- Google Fi Wireless, U.S. Mobile, and Cape -- have policies of notifying all customers about government demands whenever they are allowed to do so,” he said: “The latter two companies adopted these policies after outreach from my office.”
“We are complying with our obligations to the Senate Sergeant at Arms,” an AT&T spokesperson emailed: “We have received no legal demands regarding Senate offices under the current contract, which began last June.”