May 26, 2006
The ACLU filed class action lawsuits against AT&T and Verizon to enjoin those corporations from disclosing customers' phone records to the National Security Agency. The complaints allege that the companies violated the right to privacy in Article I of the California Constitution, as well as the Public Utilities Code, which says that no telephone company shall "make available" a residential subscriber's calling information unless the subscriber has given written permission.
The lawsuits were filed in the wake of reports that at least three major telecommunications companies have been handing over the calling information of millions of Americans, as first reported in a USA Today story.
