Verizon recently announced that it will publish Transparency Report regarding the number of surveillance requests received from law enforcement agencies to disclose customer information and now AT&T has also confirmed that it will do the same.
The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has come under a lot of fire after Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the agency, leaked classified documents, which revealed that the NSA collects telephone calls of millions of Americans.
On Thursday, December 19, Verizon announced that it will publish an online report that will provide information on the number of law enforcement requests for customer information that the company received in 2013 in the U.S. and also in other countries where it does business.
"Verizon is committed to our customers' privacy, and we do not sell information that individually identifies our customers to third parties without our customers' consent. All companies are required to provide information to government agencies in certain circumstances, however, and this new report is intended to provide more transparency about law enforcement requests," said Randal S. Milch, Verizon executive vice president, public policy, and general counsel.
Not to be outdone, just a day after Verizon's announcement, AT&T also confirmed its plans to release a similar report.
"To further our efforts to be as transparent as possible within the government guidelines in which we operate, like Verizon recently announced, we intend to publish a semi-annual online report that will provide information on the number of law enforcement requests for customer information that our company receives in the countries in which we do business," said Wayne Watts, AT&T senior executive vice president and general counsel.
AT&T also said that the company is restricted by law regarding what it can say about surveillance and government demands, but says that all such demands are deemed lawful. The carrier also added that it only provide wireless customer location data per court orders, barring rare cases where an emergency requires the company to do so.
AT&T is expecting to publish the first report, which will cover the information received in 2013, in early 2014.
