22
August
2006
|
17:15 PM
America/Los_Angeles

Qwest wants laws to track its own customers

 Can you believe this? Here is Qwest, actively lobbying for laws that would make it easier to collect private data on its own customers.

Jennifer Mardosz, Qwest's corporate counsel and chief privacy officer, applauded efforts by politicians to force broadband providers to engage in so-called "data retention," which Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said will aid in investigations into terrorism and child exploitation. This appears to be the first time a broadband provider has called for data retention laws.

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This is an unusual stand for Qwest, which defended its customers' privacy rights when requiring the National Security Agency to obtain a court order to conduct electronic surveillance, according to a USA Today article in May. The Denver-based company has a market capitalization of $16.5 billion and says it has 784,000 wireless customers and 1.7 million DSL (digital subscriber line) customers.

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"Imposing broad data retention would be a significant change to U.S. law, especially when it has not been shown that a narrower data preservation approach will not work just as well," said Kate Dean, director of the U.S. Internet Service Provider Association. "The proposal to store enormous amounts of data on subscribers and keep it live for a lengthy period of time raises serious technical, legal and security concerns." (The association's members include AOL, AT&T, BellSouth, EarthLink and Verizon Communications.)

Qwest's enthusiastic endorsement of mandatory data retention could make it politically easier for members of Congress to enact new laws even if other companies remain staunchly opposed.

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Link to Qwest calls for mandatory data retention laws | CNET News.com